Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Akashic Records
by EZ2412
Summary: In Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, Yusaku received a mysterious email that will led him to the Akashic Records, the digital space that collects histories of every universes of Duel Monsters! Making a deal with the mysterious figure, he enters the past of five Legendary Duelists in search for the Chronicle Factors as he struggles through their stories.
1. The Mysterious Email

**Authors Note** ; Hello! Welcome to my new Yugioh story called **Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Akashic Records!** This story borrows elements from **.hack/ /Link** only for Yusaku to travel the past of Yugioh protagonist's histories instead! Each intro to protagonist's histories will be introduce after the recap episodes from the anime or something like that. I hoped that you like the story!

P.S. For my other readers, sorry on the slow update on my other stories. This week I got a nasty cold which dampens my writing spirit, but I will continues writing my stories! Now I'm better than before and resume making chapters to it.

* **I don't own** **Yu-Gi-Oh!** **VRAINS** **show! I own the OC characters and cards!**

 _This is after Episode 21 and before Episode 22._

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Mysterious Email**

One night at Den City, a place where the Cyberspace known as LINK VRAINS has been used. It is where Virtual Reality Duels taken place as Duelists uses D-Boards to perform Speed Duels and ride the Data Storm, the digital wind in cyberspace. It stands for " **Link V** irtual **R** eality **A** rtificial **I** ntelligence **N** etwork **S** ystem" and it is described as "a cyberspace constructed with the latest technology".

In the Café Nagi's interior, there are two individuals who are monitoring the net for any suspicious activities happening at this hour. One of them is the owner of the food truck while his other occupation is a hacker, Shoichi Kusanagi. He is a young man with fair skin, grey eyes, purple hair comes to the base of his neck, and it has multiple small bangs brushed over to hide his forehead, and he also sports a small goatee. He dresses simply, wearing a brown trench coat over a purple hoodie with a bronze zipper and light blue shirt, and teal pants tucked into burgundy boots with prominent black soles.

The other is a rangy teenage boy with fair skin, green eyes, and dark blue hair that spikes outward in the back and contains light blue bangs with pink accents. His standard attire consists of a slate-colored jacket with light blue trim over a white dress shirt with a blue tie and a pair of black pants and black and white shoes. His name is Yusaku Fujiki and he is also a hacker like Shoichi Kusanagi.

After one hour of monitoring, Shoichi relax on his chair as he lets out a sigh from exhaustion and tiredness. Yusaku who is concerned about his partner's well-being ask him about this.

(Yusaku) "Kusanagi-san, are you alright?"

(Shoichi) "Sorry, I'm a bit tired of patrolling through the net for the past few days now. I also erasing videos and footages of Playmaker's duels while I'm at it."

(Yusaku) "Then I'll do the rest of the monitoring while you take a rest. It is the least I can do for you."

(Shoichi) "I'll take your offer. Sorry about this and thanks."

(Yusaku) "Don't mention it."

Shoichi took his offer as he start to doze off before sleeping completely as Yusaku continues the search. In LINK VRAINS, many people use their avatar forms to avoid being using their identities while freely communicating in the network. Yusaku's avatar name is Playmaker and he use this avatar to fight the hacker group known as the Knights of Hanoi in order to find the truth of the incident in his past while rescuing Shoichi's brother from his darkness.

After 30 minutes of monitoring, Yusaku decided that it is enough and was about to end the search when an email suddenly appears on their screen and it is address to Yusaku.

(Yusaku) "An email for me? But I don't remember giving my email to any associates that I know except Kusanagi-san. Also the fact that I don't have many people know me so this feels suspicious…"

Yusaku thought of that as he study the email before reading it. He didn't have many close friends or allies due to his status as a hacker and also the fact that he currently battles against Knights of Hanoi so he doesn't want anyone to get involved.

After seeing that there is no information of the sender, Yusaku became more suspicious of this as he opens the mail. The contents of the email is encrypted in codes that only experienced hackers can read and Yusaku is one of them. As he continues to read the mail, Yusaku's expression turns disbelief due to the contents on it.

(Email) [Hello, Playmaker. Or should I call you Yusaku Fujiki? I'm fine with either way because I know about your existence and your history. I have to say that it is a very interesting one, especially your battle against Revolver. I bet you are wondering how I know that and your real identity. If you want to know, then head to this place with these coordinates right now. Also, don't tell anyone about this letter, especially your partner, Shoichi Kusanagi, or I will tell your identity and your associates to SOL Technologies or maybe the Knights of Hanoi. I bet that they are willing to take this information since you have the Ignis named Ai they wanted. Beside, you don't want Kusanagi to miss a chance of finding the truth of the Hanoi Project and save his brother from his condition, aren't you? I'm looking forward of meeting you~]

After finishing reading the letter, Yusaku searched carefully of the email and try to find any traces of the sender until he couldn't find one thing about it.

(Yusaku) _Who's is this person? How does he know about my identity and past? Could I trust this information here?_

The frustrated Yusaku is thinking about his choices of whatever to believe the contents in the mail or not as he deeply pondered on this. The information in this text reveal several facts that only he, Ai and Shoichi knows like the battle against Revolver, the name that he give to the little Ignis, and also the name of the incident. This forces him to believe the intention of the sender as he finally make up his mind.

After downloading the coordinates into the flash drive, the email suddenly deleted itself which surprises Yusaku who didn't noticed the self-destruct program before when he scanned it earlier. He realized that this sender must be better than he thought as he gets up to leave the cafe. He took one last look at Shoichi Kusanagi who is still sleeping before he leaves.

* * *

After arriving his house and logging into LINK VRAINS, Yusaku appears out from the portal in the digital sky as he landed on one of the digital buildings. He changed into his avatar form, Playmaker, as he wears a black and green bodysuit with a golden stripe going across his body and a grey belt at the waistline. His hair color also changes to yellow and red with pink stripes and accents.

He hopped into his D-Board which came to him on the Data Storm and ride the stream of data towards the location in the mail.

(Ai) "What's with you all of the sudden? You came back home only to went into LINK VRAINS without telling me what's up. Did the Knights of Hanoi show up again?"

(Playmaker) "Look at the email I install into my Duel Disk. That will keep you updated."

(Ai) "Not going to bother explaining this yourself, huh? Crude guy. Alright, let me see this mail."

The Ignis, nickname Ai, came out from Playmaker's Duel Disk to annoyingly demanded to know about his partner's action which he rudely replied back to him. Ai is a small digital humanoid being with markings over his body, in shape of lines and circles, which are tinted with a purple color. He is an AI with free will and is sought after by SOL Technologies and the Knights of Hanoi.

He was captured by Yusaku who is using him as a bargain against the Knights of Hanoi and currently resides inside the latter's Duel Disk when he finished reading the contents of the email before letting out his surprised voice.

(Ai) "Now this is very shocking. This suspicious guy knows your real identity and you're going to the place that he recommended? This smells like a trap!"

(Playmaker) "It might be so."

(Ai) "Might be?! Then why are you still going despite knowing this will be a trap of some sort?"

(Playmaker) "There are 3 reasons that I must go. #1: This person knows too much about us and Kusanagi-san so I have to see if he's telling the truth. #2: If this is set up by the Knights of Hanoi, I might get a lead to their boss, Revolver. #3: It might be a different person who have information about the incident that stole my past and Kusanagi-san's brother's too."

(Ai) "Yeah, Yeah. I get it. I bet you're eager to take this guy's demands because you don't have any leads right now."

(Playmaker) "Be quiet. We're near the location shortly so I don't need to hear your jokes now."

Playmaker rudely silenced his AI as he arrived at the designation. The location appears to be a digital warehouse and Playmaker jumps off as he landed near the door. He opens the door without hesitation as he walked into an empty dark room before arriving at the center.

(Ai) "Huh? There's nobody here? Very suspicious…"

(Playmaker) "I've noticed it."

(Unknown Voice) "Welcome to my domain, Yusaku Fujiki~"

Playmaker put up his guard when he heard that voice before he noticed the entire room has completely changed around him. Playmaker find himself in an outer space scenary with clock-like symbols and numbers roaming around him as he tries to understand the situation.

(Playmaker) "What the?! Could it be a trap after all…?!"

(Unknown Voice) "No need to be alert now~ I thought of doing the introductions here is better to convince you for what I about to say next."

Playmaker turns around where he saw a figure that just appeared out of nowhere as he look closely at the mysterious man. The man wears a blue mask over the right side of his face, he has torn clothing that covers his more casual appearance, some of his clothing is kept on by black and white bands, he has white curvy hair, and he wears four torn scarves with arrow markings.

(Playmaker) "You might be the sender that you emailed to me earlier. Who are you?"

(Mysterio) "Oh my. Immediately want to know my name, aren't you? Just what I expected from your behavior. Hmm~ What is my name? I know! You may call me Mysterio! After all, I'm the mysterious person that knows your true identity so it is right to call me that~"

(Ai) "What with this guy? He sounds creepy."

(Playmaker) "You also like that."

(Ai) "Ehh?! I don't talk like that!"

AI feel offended of Playmaker's remark only for the latter to ignore him and resume his questioning to this "Mysterio" character.

(Playmaker) "Alright then, Mysterio. How do you know about my identity? And are you-"

(Mysterio) "Working for SOL Technologies or the Knights of Hanoi, is that you wanted to know?"

Mysterio immediately guess what Playmaker about to say which surprises the latter before answering his questions.

(Mysterio) "For your second question… No, I'm not part of those organizations that are after you. I have little interest of taking that annoying hitch-hiker you carried. It's going to troublesome for me when I have that thing with me."

(Ai) "Hey! Troublesome?! Many people want me so I'm very popular!"

(Mysterio) "As for your first question… I've learned about you, that's all~"

(Playmaker) "What do you mean by learn? You can't possibly know all of that information about us. #1: I have erased all of my activities in LINK VRAINS every time that I've logged out. #2: I didn't tell no one about my identity except Kusanagi-san. #3: The details about the Lost Incident hasn't been revealed to public yet. How do you know all of this?"

(Mysterio) "Ah. Your famous three things habit~ The thing that you held so deeply to your heart from the one that gives you the reason to keep going during your captivity in the Hanoi Project created by Kiyoshi Kogami. Am I right?"

 _He also knows that!? Who is this person?_ Playmaker was speechless due to amount of accurate detail that Mysterio explained, especially the part of his habit and the name, Kiyoshi Kogami. Playmaker only find out the name of the mastermind of the incident recently and this information was safely guarded in the SOL Technologies' data bank at the mother computer. It wasn't easy for him to get in there so he is wondering how this person obtained this info as Mysterio continues explaining his reason.

(Mysterio) "Like I said, I've learned about you. I know all about of your past, present and future."

(Playmaker) "My future? That's impossible. Nobody can truly know about the future unless you're telling me that you are a psychic?"

(Mysterio) "Not exactly~ I'm more of a reader than a predictor. Not only your history, even I learned about your little AI, your partner in crime, and your opponents as well."

(Ai) "Ehh?! You learned about my private life! What a creepy stalker."

(Mysterio) "R-E-A-D-E-R~ And I'm not stalking anyone. I'm just want to learn about everything. LINK VRAINS, Den City, the citizens live here and everything in this world! Even other worlds too!"

(Playmaker) "Other worlds? What are you talking about?"

(Mysterio) "Oops~ Went too far on the topic. All that I can say is that I've learned everything about your adventures in LINK VRAINS thanks to this place."

(Playmaker) "Here?"

Playmaker becomes dubious of what this strange person's meaning as he look around his surrounding. He felt that he is still in LINK VRAINS yet there is an unknown power radiating in here. His Link Sense tells him that this space is not normal as Mysterio talks about a different topic.

(Mysterio) "First, I'm wondering that you heard of this term called Akashic Records. Sound familiar to you?"

(Ai) "Akashic Records?"

(Playmaker) "It is a fictional place that also a compendium of all events, thoughts, words, emotions and intent ever to have occurred in the past, present or future. It is believed to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the etheric plane."

(Ai) "Ah! Like a library!"

(Mysterio) "Correct~ You're a very smart individual as it said here!"

(Ai) "Heh heh! Thanks for the compliment!"

(Playmaker) "He wasn't talking about you. So are you saying that this place is like that, recording everything that happens in this world?"

(Mysterio) "Well~ Here is not the real thing, but its function and purpose is close to it so I decided to call this place the 'Akashic Records' because it is easier to remember. Also, it doesn't exactly recorded everything, only things related to Duel Monsters are stored in here."

(Playmaker) "Duel Monsters?"

(Mysterio) "That's right. Every events that already happened and duelists who involved with Duel Monsters have been recorded in this very space! Even yours as well. Not only that, it also have gathered time periods from many worlds that are connected with Duel Monsters and are encoded in this mystical place!"

(Ai) "Many worlds?! That's ridiculous! There's no such thing that there are other worlds out there."

(Mysterio) "Truth is stranger than fiction, little one. And aren't you an AI that has a free will where many people believed that wouldn't be possible?"

(Ai) "Kuh! Can't argue with that."

(Mysterio) "Anyway, this is a wonderful place~ So many tales are confined in here yet very few people discovered this divine place. It is located in a special part of this cyberspace that none will ever find. Not even SOL Technologies or the Knights of Hanoi noticed this place existed."

(Playmaker) "Then why did you called me here and telling me about this? There's no way that you just want to share this secret with me."

Playmaker immediately went straight to the point of the conversation as he taking in the information he heard. As he listening to Mysterio's ranting, he realized the great value of this place as he is deeply shocked inside. If all of that is truth, then he might have a chance to learn the purpose of the Hanoi Project that torn apart his life and others like Kusanagi's brother.

However, he also realized that everything is not free as he asked Mysterio about purpose about why Playmaker came to this place. Mysterio noticed his intentions as he begins explaining his goal.

(Mysterio) "It seemed that you aren't swayed away easily about the info of this place. Very well. The reason that I bring you here because I need your help."

(Playmaker) "Help? For what?"

(Mysterio) "You see, I've been fascinated by this place ever since I've gotten here and was trying to pry on its secrets while reading some stories from other worlds for a long time."

(Ai) "Huh? You didn't create this place?"

(Mysterio) "Of course not~ If so, then why do I even messaged you guys to come here? The secrets of this domain are locked away behind a room and the heavily encrypted door won't be opened by other means. The only way to unlock the door is five special keys that are hidden away in few of the recordings from different worlds in this place. The Chronicle Factors."

(Playmaker) "Chronicle Factors?"

(Mysterio) "Yes, and they are instilled in five duelists in their worlds, the Legendary Duelists. These people make their names in their histories as they accomplished great feats and tasks on their journeys. You might say that they are strongest duelists in existences."

(Ai) "Strongest duelists in existences!? And there are five of them?"

(Mysterio) "The Chronicle Factors in them won't be removed through any means. The only way to get them is to beat the duelists in a duel and that is when the Chronicle Factors will appear."

(Playmaker) "You're saying that I have to duel against these duelists and get their Chronicle Factors for you?"

(Mysterio) "Correct~ Your dueling skills are nearly equal to those duelists so that is why I've called you here in the first place. All you have to do is to get into those special places, duel against these five Legendary Duelists and receive their Chronicle Factors. Simple, right~"

(Ai) "Yeah right! If we do it, what's in it for us? There's no way that we do free charity work."

(Mysterio) "Your owner knows about his price of this quest, didn't you Yusaku?"

(Playmaker) "The knowledge of my history, along with the truth behind the Lost Incident."

Playmaker speak those words in confirmation which Ai immediately realized his desired as Mysterio clap his hands in applause.

(Mysterio) "You have understood very well of what I'm offering. If you help me getting those keys, I will give you full access to your world's history where you can finally learned the truth that steal away your past. Maybe a way to find your partner's brother from his darkness. Do we have a deal?"

Playmaker is in deep thought as he is considering of taking his deal which Ai whisper to him about this.

(Ai) "Playmaker, you aren't really making a deal with this guy, right?"

(Playmaker) "Yes, I decided to accept his offer."

(Ai) "Eh? But do you think he is not telling out the whole reason. This suspicious fellow may hiding some facts from us."

(Playmaker) "You're properly right. However, this may be the chance to finally know the truth about the incident. Not only that, we might figured out the identities of the Knights of Hanoi and will get our revenge on those who stolen our past from me and Kusanagi-san's brother! I promise to bring the truth to light!"

(Ai) "Alright, alright! I let you have your way. Man, I don't understand how you humans take such risky tasks despite knowing the danger."

(Playmaker) "It is a common nature for us humans. Sometimes we won't get anywhere with life without taking risks. Just like the time I decided to fight against my destiny to discover the truth in the darkness."

(Ai) "Yeah, yeah. I get it. At least this trip will be interesting."

Ai let out a tiresome sigh knowing full well of his owner's personality as Playmaker speak of his choice to Mysterio.

(Playmaker) "Very well, Mysterio. You got yourself a deal."

(Mysterio) "Very good, Playmaker~ I knew you are the right person that I'm looking for."

Mysterio gleefully says that as he reach out hand towards Playmaker which he grabs it in reponse of sealing a deal between those two.

* * *

After a few minutes, Playmaker is standing in front of a digital opening doorway that is appearing out of thin air. Mysterio led him to one of the doors to the records of a different world where one of the Chronicle Factors is located.

(Playmaker) "So this door leads to the first Chronicle Factor in this record."

(Mysterio) "Yes, this Door of History will lead you to the world that it is believed to be the origins of Duel Monsters."

(Playmaker) "Origins of Duel Monsters?"

(Mysterio) "It is up to you to believe it or not. Anyway, before we begin, I need to let you a few more facts about this place."

Mysterio explaining the rules about this mission as Playmaker listens carefully. The place that he's going to is a digital recording of the time period that's already happened and the people over there are AIs with full personalities of the originals. When he arrives there, the AIs will adapt to his presence and change the scenario a little, but still remain in its course as he follows the procedure.

When he finds one of the Legendary Duelists, he won't just immediately challenge him in a duel. The time to challenge them will be a chance for the Chronicle Factors to be taken.

(Ai) "But how will we know when that time comes?"

(Mysterio) "You're know it when you both hear a musical tune coming~"

(Ai) "Musical tune?"

Ai is perplexed about it as Mysterio continues his explanation. As Yusaku follow the story, the Akashic Records will immediately tries to exclude him from the records and use duelists in that world to stop him. The Master Rules over there is different from the one in Yusaku's world. However, when Yusaku duels against a duelist over there, it immediately changed to his Master Rules and they won't noticed the change while unknowingly follow the rules. However, it doesn't prevent them from knowing about his Link monsters as they didn't have those in this record.

(Mysterio) "If you think about it a little, it sounds like RPG~ Isn't it sound exciting~?"

(Playmaker) "I'm not interesting of your jokes now. Are there still other rules I need to know?"

(Mysterio) "Oh my~ You're really not the one who likes to have fun, aren't you?"

(Ai) "Isn't that obvious?"

Mysterio said that Yusaku must not lose for 3 duels in those worlds, otherwise he will be forced out from the recording and have to start all over again in the beginning. While he is there, his appearance will change into his real one and have to use his real name to get along with the characters. Also, if he gets heavily injured or dies over there, he will be forced out from there as well.

(Mysterio) "Also, your Duel Disk will match its appearance to their world's Duel Disk, but still have the same function like your world. Your little AI won't be noticed by the people over there because they are AI themselves."

(Ai) "No way! They won't be able to noticed my great charms."

(Playmaker) "Be quiet. It better for them to not listening your rambling and save me the trouble of explaining your existence."

(Ai) "Gah! That even colder than last time…"

Ai felt dejected from Playmaker's comment as Mysterio almost finishing his explanation.

(Mysterio) "That almost wrap things up about this place. Don't you feel the excitement of this? As if you are time traveling to the past~"

(Ai) "It does sound that way."

(Playmaker) "It was just a digital recording from a different place. That's all there is."

(Mysterio) "Yes, and also a bit warning for both of you. Don't get swayed by their histories. Even though it was based on a real life event that already come to pass, it is still an illusion and you can't change the outcome because it is not actual past of that world. Also, the people you meet over there are just AIs based on the real ones. Don't talk to them about the truth of their world in order to avoid confusion, although I bet you already know that didn't you."

(Playmaker) "Of course. No matter what events happening over there, I must stay on my own path. I can't let others get involved with my struggles, even they are AIs. This is my own choice."

(Mysterio) "Good, then I wish for your success~"

Mysterio said his farewells as Playmaker stepped in the opening when his entire being is suddenly pulled in the doorway. As he travels through the corridors of time, his body receiving electrical shocks passing through the tunnels.

(Playmaker) "Kuh…! Could it be that the Akashic Records is resisting me?!"

Playmaker groans in pain from the shocks before arriving at his designation.


	2. Into the Duel Monsters!

**Authors Note** ; Here is another chapter of **Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS: Akashic Records!** I think I will do slow updates due to the minimum of cards that Yusaku has revealed so i input them on cards that he already input his deck so I want to add varieties of combos for the upcoming duels! I won't add cards that he gotten from the Data Storm because I want to give a canon feeling related to the anime. Enjoy!

 _This chapter start on Yugioh Duel Monsters Episode 50._

* **I don't own** **Yu-Gi-Oh!** **VRAINS** **show! I own the OC characters and cards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Into the Duel Monsters!**

At the open sky, a portal appear overhead which Yusaku came out and landed on the ground with his feet. He gets up and look around his surroundings which is a Japanese city that is similar to Den City before looking at his appearance. He is no longer in his Playmaker avatar and is back to his real form as Ai speak to him about this.

(Ai) "Ugghh… That was one nasty ride. I still feel prickle from the shocks along the way."

(Yusaku) "Get use to it. We will be doing these later in the future after finishing this one."

(Ai) "Guhhh… I'm not looking forward to it… Anyway, this is place where the Chronicle Factor is located, huh?"

(Yusaku) "Yeah. It seem we have arrived at some city."

(Ai) "Heh… It look so realistic if I hadn't known this was a virtual simulation. Well, do you know how to find this Legendary Duelist who holds the Chronicle Factor?"

(Yusaku) "No idea."

(Ai) "What?! Then how will we find this person?"

(Yusaku) "Guess we have to find him ourselves."

(Ai) "Ugghh... Searching through the hard way, huh? That creepy Mysterio guy, he didn't give us any information on where to find the Legendary Duelists! I can't believe that he made a stupid mistake."

(Mysterio) "I didn't make any mistake~"

(Ai) "Uwah! Where that came from?!"

Ai is surprised when he heard Mysterio's voice while Yusaku figured that person would appear soon as he predict that Mysterio wouldn't leave them to this predicament. His voice is coming from Yusaku's Duel Disk that changed its appearance. It's resemble like his old one except that it has a physical blade now which unfolded in half on both sides.

(Mysterio) "I knew that you guys need help finding the Legendary Duelists so I instilled a radar into your disk for finding the locations of the Chronicle Factors."

(Ai) "What?! Since when?"

(Yusaku) "He must have done it quickly when I shook his hand earlier. I didn't even sense it when it happened!"

(Mysterio) "That's right~ Also, I have input some infos on places during your journey. That is all you need to know so I won't be calling you guys much during the mission. Good luck~!"

Mysterio ends the call as Ai start complaining about his playful personality.

(Ai) "Kuh! This guy is so annoying! Can't believe that we're working with this guy now."

(Yusaku) "Enough talking. Start searching the Chronicle Factor in the area."

(Ai) "Alright, I'll do all of the hard work, geez... Activating the radar… now!"

Ai start the radar as he is standing there in a daze for a few minutes until he is done scanning.

(Ai) "I got it! The name of this place is Domino City and our target is close around here!"

(Yusaku) "Where?"

(Ai) "To the south!"

Ai pointed to the direction of the Chronicle Factor as Yusaku walks there. After a few minutes, he had arrived at a little shop with green roofs and a sign that said 'GAMES' on front.

(Yusaku) "Our target lives here?"

(Ai) "That what the radar indicates, but what a cheap house. It doesn't much for the Legendary Duelist to live in."

(Yusaku) "We don't have actual information of where the Legendary Duelists live or what they look like. All we can do now is to search for them."

(Ai) "I see."

(Yusaku) "Hm? There's someone outside in front of the house. Ai, could this guy be him?"

Yusaku saw a short old man sweeping the floor outside with his broom. He had wild silver hair and purple eyes wearing a white shirt and green overalls. He also had a black bandana on his head as he patted his back while Ai give out his answer.

(Ai) "Nope. The radar didn't respond to him so he's out. Honestly, I highly doubted about this guy being one of the Legendary Duelists. He's even too old to be a duelist."

(Yusaku) "A duelist can be any kind, no matter how young or old he is. I'll go ask him if he lives in that house along with his family."

Yusaku went up to the old man when the man noticed his arrival as he greets him.

(Aged Old Man) "Hello there! Are you here to buy something?"

(Yusaku) "Buy? You mean this place isn't just a house?"

(Aged Old Man) "Oh, you didn't know? That means you didn't come to buy at my shop."

(Yusaku) "Sorry to disappoint you."

(Mr. Mutou) "Don't be, it was my mistake. My name is Sugoroku Mutou, and I'm the owner of the game shop, Kame Game."

(Ai) "Shop?! This little cheap place? I bet he doesn't have a lot of customers though."

(Yusaku) "Shut it. Others here will not hear you but I do so don't disturbed me now."

(Ai) "Fine. I'll be quiet."

(Mr. Mutou) "Hm? What was that?"

Mr. Mutou tilted his head when he heard Yusaku talking himself which the latter tries to change the subject.

(Yusaku) "Nothing. I'm Yusaku Fujiki and I just recently arrived at this place. I'm a bit lost around here when I saw your shop and decided to ask for direction."

(Mr. Mutou) "I see. Then welcome to Domino City, Yusaku. I'm happy to help out."

(Yusaku) "Thank you. By the way, do you live here alone at your shop?"

(Mr. Mutou) "Oh no. I live here with my family. My son's wife and my grandson."

(Yusaku) "Grandson?"

(Anzu) "Good morning, Mister!"

A girl came in their conversation as she greeted Mr. Mutou in a friendly tone. The girl has brown hair and blue eyes. Her brown shoulder-length hair is sectioned into two layers, consisting of a darker shade of brown inner layer, with the outer layer of a lighter shade. She is wearing her school uniform which is colored in pink as Mr. Mutou greeted her back.

(Mr. Mutou) "Oh, good morning! Anzu-chan, you're a nice girl as always!"

(Anzu) "Oh? This person..."

(Mr. Mutou) "This young man is looking for directions so I'm helping him find his way around here."

(Anzu) "I see. Sorry that I'm disturbing you."

(Yusaku) "It's fine."

Anzu gives her small apology to Yusaku which the latter didn't mind as she turn to face Mr. Mutou.

(Anzu) "By the way, where's Yugi?"

(Mr. Mutou) "He is upstairs at the moment so I'll call him. Oh, Yugi! Anzu-chan is here!"

(Yugi) "Oh, okay! I'm coming now!"

(Yusaku) "Yugi? Could that be his grandson?"

Yusaku mutters as he saw a young boy coming out of the door. His appearance is a normal outfit which consists of the standard high school uniform which is colored in blue complete with a closed buckled collar. His most notable feature is his extremely extravagant hair which has multiple layers including long blond crooked, pointy locks for his fringe; the rest features a set of five large spikes and two smaller spikes colored black with a magenta sheen along the edges. He also has a golden pendent which resembles an upside-down pyramid with an eye on the front and has a ring on top which has chains on it as Anzu greeted her childhood friend.

(Anzu) "Good morning, Yugi."

(Yugi) "Sorry to keep you waiting, Anzu. Hm?"

Yugi noticed Yusaku who is looking at him as he speaks to him.

(Yugi) "Who are you?"

(Yusaku) "I'm…"

(Mr. Mutou) "This man is Yusaku Fujiki and he is new around here so I'm helping him get use to the place."

(Yugi) "I see. Nice to meet you, Yusaku-kun."

(Anzu) "Come on, Yugi. Let's hurry to school!"

(Yugi) "Okay. We're off, Grandpa! And in if you transfers to my school, then I hope we see each other, Yusaku-kun!"

(Mr. Mutou) "Oh, take care you two!"

Yugi and Anzu waves goodbye to Mr. Mutou before leaving to their school. Ai came out of Yusaku's Duel Disk to frustratedly shout at his owner.

(Ai) "What are you doing, Yusaku?! You're letting our target get away! That man holds the Chronicle Factor."

(Yusaku) "I figured as much. Yugi Mutou… So this person is one of the Legendary Duelists."

(Mr. Mutou) "You there. Are you interesting of dueling my grandson?"

(Yusaku) "How do you know that I'm a duelist?"

(Mr. Mutou) "Heh heh heh. Despite my old age, I'm still a duelist and I also have a good eyes for strong ones as I see the fighting spirit in your eyes when you look at Yugi."

(Yusaku) "I just sense a strong will coming from him so it kinda makes me curious about him."

(Ai) " _Really_? I don't feel anything like that. Are you _sure_ that what you're sensing?"

Yusaku makes an excuse about his actions earlier as Ai makes a sarcastic remark about it which Yusaku ignores completely.

(Mr. Mutou) "Ho Ho Ho. I understand how you feel that way. My grandson is very strong duelist. After all, he is the winner of Duelist Kingdom."

(Yusaku) "Duelist Kingdom?"

(Mr. Mutou) "You didn't know? It was a tournament hosted by Pegasus J. Crawford…"

Mr. Mutou is explaining Yugi's achievements to Yusaku as the latter listens. Duelist Kingdom was a tournament hosted by Pegasus J. Crawford, the the president of Industrial Illusions and the creator of the game of Duel Monsters. Yugi was invited to the tournament by the president himself and eventually managed to win the whole event, attained the title "King of Duelists" which impressed Yusaku despite not knowing about the company who hosted or its president.

(Mr. Mutou) "After that event, a few duelists came to challenge him either to attain the title or like fighting the strongest duelist, which in case he has beaten them all already. If you want to duel against my grandson, I suggest that you better catch up with him."

(Yusaku) "You don't mind?"

(Mr. Mutou) "Of course not. These things happen most of the time and Yugi can grow stronger by having more rivals and friends. Although I have to warn you, my grandson is very strong so don't underestimate him."

(Yusaku) "I'll take your word for it. Thank you for your help, Mutou-san."

(Mr. Mutou) "Take care, Yusaku."

Yusaku also said his goodbyes to Mr. Mutou as he walks off and went after Yugi, the holder of the Chronicle Factor.

(Mr. Mutou) "Aw, youth. A life of passion and adventurous. I really miss the old days. Well, better to sweep up this mess."

* * *

(Anzu) "By the way, Yugi. Is that a chain on your puzzle?"

(Yugi) "You noticed? This puzzle is very important to my other self, so I want to make sure I don't damage it."

(Anzu) "I see…"

Anzu and Yugi are having their friendly conversation while walking to school as Yusaku is following them behind. He is keeping a safe distance between them in order to not get noticed as Ai commented about Yusaku's excuse earlier.

(Ai) "What was that earlier? 'I just sense a strong will coming from him.' That doesn't sound logical at all!"

(Yusaku) "It was just an excuse. Besides, it is truth that we must face him in a duel later."

(Ai) "Yeah, I know, but I gotta say that I'm not impressed with this Legendary Duelist. All he did was managed to win one tournament, that's all."

(Yusaku) "It might be the starting point of his history."

(Ai) "Huh? What do you mean?"

Ai is perplexed about it when they saw Yugi and Anzu stopped at some fortune teller stand with a hooded figure which also Yusaku stopped his tracks as he explain his reason.

(Yusaku) "Didn't you hear what Mysterio said? That we're going to follow their story. It means that he must send us back to the earlier point of Yugi's history before his achievements have already happened."

(Ai) "What? You mean to tell me that we really have to follow his history at the beginning!? Why?!"

(Yusaku) "I can think of three reasons for it. #1: We were sented at this point in order to get acquainted with our target to fully understand him. #2: To learn about their strategies and cards in order to prepare for the incoming duel. #3: It's most likely that the chances for the Chronicle Factor will come out is near the end of the journey because there might be some requirements for it to appear."

(Ai) "I see… Oh man, this will be a pain in the neck. Who's know how long we will reached that goal."

(Yusaku) "Get use to it because there are four more Chronicle Factors after this one."

(Ai) "Don't remind me."

(Yugi) "Aah! My puzzle!"

Yusaku look at the direction where Yugi and Anzu screamed out in shock when the hooded fortune teller kicked his stand and runs off while stealing Yugi's puzzle.

(Anzu) "Are you okay, Yugi?"

(Yugi) "Anzu, go to school before me! I'm going after him!"

(Anzu) "I'll get the others!"

(Yusaku) "Looks like something happened. I better follow him!"

Yugi runs off and chase after the thief who stole his puzzle in the alleyway as Anzu left to get their friends for help. Yusaku who saw the whole event decided to follow Yugi as he runs after him.

As Yusaku runs through the alleyway, he noticed several arrow signs on the walls that indicated him to follow the path which he felt suspicious about this.

(Yusaku) "These signs… Could it be that they were expecting someone? Maybe Yugi?"

Yusaku observe this as he has managed to arrived at an old warehouse that looks abandoned and walk closer to it where he can hear the voices inside.

(Yugi) "Give me back my Millennium Puzzle!"

(Fortune Teller) "If you want me to give it back, defeat me in a duel."

Yusaku look at the gap between the doors where he saw Yugi facing the fortune teller that stolen his Millennium Puzzle. The item in question is staked at some sort of stadium that had a format of Duel Monsters and the two boxes are colored in red and blue on different sides.

(Yugi) "Who are you?! Why are you making me duel you?"

(Fortune Teller) "There is no need for me to answer you. You have but two options to choose from. Will you accept the duel? Or will you not?"

(Yugi) "Why do I have to duel you? Can't you just return my Millennium Puzzle?"

(Fortune Teller) "What will you do?"

(Yusaku) "If you don't mind, I will take his place."

Yugi and the fortune teller turns around to see Yusaku walks in the warehouse as he declares his intention.

(Fortune Teller) "Who are you bastard?!"

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun!? Why are you here?"

(Yusaku) "I was in the area when I saw the whole event happening so I follow you here. I heard from your grandfather that some duelists came here to challenge you because of your achievements, but this kind of act is something that I can't ignore so you won't mind that I duel in your place instead."

(Fortune Teller) "Get out! It has nothing to do with you!"

(Yusaku) "I refuse. If you want to duel him, you have to get through me first!"

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun…"

(Fortune Teller) "Oh? You're a brave fellow. Very well. If you wish to get involved, then I accept your request. Get on the Dueling Arena. That is where we will duel. If you lose, you will hand over your deck. That is the price for your intrusion."

(Yusaku) "If I win, you returned his puzzle."

(Fortune Teller) "Sure."

The fortune teller and Yusaku made their bets as he gets on the duel box while Yusaku did the same as Ai complimented on his heroism.

(Ai) "What a cool speech, Yusaku! Sounded like a real hero!"

(Yusaku) "I'm only doing this in order to gain trust of our target. This is the chance to do so."

(Ai) "I see! But I bet that the other reason is that you can't ignore someone in trouble, aren't you?"

(Yusaku) "Be quiet."

(Yugi) "Sorry about this, Yusaku-kun. I'm involving you with my problems."

(Yusaku) "This is my own choice. Don't worry about it."

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun… Then I hoped you will win!"

Yusaku nodded to his words as he is being lifted to the duel box where the Dueling Arena setting itself for the duel.

(Yusaku) "This must be a different model before Duel Disks were created…"

(Fortune Teller) "Good. You're ready to duel now. Place your deck on the format so we can begin."

Yusaku agrees as he pull out his deck from his Duel Disk and it doesn't appear to log him out from LINK VRAINS which surprises him. Then he set his deck on the format where Yusaku saw it changed into his world's Master Rule. His opponent doesn't noticed the change which confirms Mysterio's facts.

(Yusaku) _So what Mysterio said is true… Even I have the advantage, I gotta be careful about this._

Yusaku thought of that as he begins the duel against his first opponent in this world.

 **DUEL!**

Yusaku: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:5** ), ( **Field:0** )

Fortune Teller: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:5** ), ( **Field:0** )

(Fortune Teller) "It's your turn first."

(Yusaku) "Understood. My turn! When there are no monsters on my field, I can Special Summon this card. Come, **Linkslayer**!"

Yusaku summons a humanoid warrior wearing a beast themed armor with circuits all over and a red cape as it appears on the field.

[ **Linkslayer/EARTH/Cyberse/LV 5/ATK 2000/DEF 600** ]

(Yusaku) "Next, I summon **Cyberse Wizard**!"

Yusaku summons a humanoid magician wearing cyberpunk clothing and holds a staff as it appears next to **Linkslayer**.

[ **Cyberse Wizard/LIGHT/Cyberse/LV 4/ATK 1800/DEF 800** ]

(Yusaku) "Then I set 1 card. Turn end."

Yusaku: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:2** ), ( **Field:3** )

Fortune Teller: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:5** ), ( **Field:0** )

(Yugi) "I never seen those monsters before. So this is Yusaku's deck."

(Fortune Teller) "Interesting. You have some unusual cards. Looks like there is some worth dueling you after all. My turn. Draw. I placed a monster face-down and set 1 card. Turn end."

Yugi and the fortune teller commented on Yusaku's cards as they never seen a Cyberse deck before. The fortune teller just set his cards on the field without doing anything as he ends his turn.

Yusaku: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:2** ), ( **Field:3** )

Fortune Teller: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:4** ), ( **Field:2** )

(Ai) "That's it? Not going to attack on his turn?"

(Yusaku) "He must have set up his defenses. Or he might be luring me into attacking his monster to activate his Trap Card."

(Ai) "I see. Setting up a bait for us, huh?"

(Yugi) "That man's voice… I think I heard it somewhere before."

(Yusaku) "Hm? Yugi, what's wrong?"

Yusaku heard Yugi's muttering when his opponent urges him to start his turn.

(Fortune Teller) "Hey, what is it? It's your turn."

(Yusaku) "Alright. My turn. Draw! Here I go!"

(Ai) "Eh?! Didn't you said that he setting up a trap for us?"

(Yusaku) "If I was scared, I wouldn't accepted this duel. Battle! Go, **Linkslayer**! Attack his monster! [ **Meteor Slash**!]"

His monster's wrists turns into light blades as it jumps at the face-down monster and slash it down. The monster reveal itself before being attack which it appears to be a robotic looking pot with a face at where the opening should be as his opponent grins.

[ **Cyber Jar/DARK/Rock/LV 3/ATK 900/DEF 900** ]

(Fortune Teller) "When **Cyber Jar** is attacked while in face-down DEF Mode, **Cyber Jar** 's effect activates. When this card is Flipped, all monsters on the field are destroyed."

(Yusaku) "What?!"

Yusaku is shocked as he saw two of his monsters being destroyed in front of his eyes. His opponent's monster is also destroyed by its own effect as the fortune teller continues to explain more.

(Fortune Teller) "And both players are to draw 5 cards from the top of their decks. We then both summon any Level 4 or lower monsters we've drawn to the field in ATK Mode or face-down DEF Mode. We also reveal the cards we've drawn as well."

(Ai) "Summon any Level 4 or lower monsters!?"

Ai is also surprised by this as Yusaku and the fortune teller draw 5 cards and summon their monsters.

(Yusaku) "I set both **Bitron** and **Stack Reviver** in face-down DEF Mode while summon **Draconnet** in ATK Mode."

(Fortune Teller) "I summon **Mecha Hunter** , **Ground Attacker Bugroth** and **BM-4 Bomb Spider** in ATK Mode."

Yusaku placed both of his monsters face-down while summon a digitize being with a vague dragon-like appearance and circuit patterns. His opponent just summoned three of his monsters. All of them are Machine monsters; a robot with wings and six arm-like weapons, a jet-like machine with submarine missiles on both sides of its back and a mechanical spider with rocket launchers on its back as well.

[ **Bitron/EARTH/Cyberse/LV 2/ATK 200/DEF 2000** ]

[ **Stack Reviver/DARK/Cyberse/LV 2/ATK 100/DEF 600** ]

[ **Draconnet/DARK/Cyberse/LV 4/ATK 1400/DEF 1200** ]

[ **Mecha Hunter/DARK/Machine/LV 4/ATK 1850/DEF 800** ]

[ **Ground Attacker Bugroth/EARTH/Machine/LV 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1000** ]

[ **BM-4 Bomb Spider/DARK/Machine/LV 4/ATK 1400/DEF 2200** ]

(Yusaku) "He summon three monsters in ATK Mode and all of them are Machine monsters."

(Ai) "And they have higher ATK points than our monsters! A disadvantage at the start!"

(Yugi) "Those monsters… Is he playing a Machine deck? Could it be…?! Could he be Bandit Keith?!"

(Yusaku) "Bandit Keith?"

Yusaku repeated the name in a questioning tone as the fortune teller remove his hood, revealing an old man face with blonde hair, unshaved chin and a bandana with an American-themed pattern. He also has vacant eyes for some reason as Yugi's suspicions were confirmed.

(Yugi) "As I thought, it is Keith!"

(Yusaku) "Someone you know?"

(Yugi) "Yes, he cause us a lot of trouble back in Duelist Kingdom. Although he acting like a different person, there's no mistaking that bandana!"

Yugi explaining to Yusaku about his history with Bandit Keith. He is the former U.S. Duel Monsters Champion. He was so successful in this profession, that his reputation earned him the nickname "Bandit Keith". He was defeated by Pegasus J. Crawford during the final round of the Intercontinental Championship tournament in New York City by using a child to duel him and wants revenge against him so he sneaks into Duelist Kingdom to defeat Pegasus and reclaim his glory.

(Yugi) "However, he was defeated by Jonouchi-kun in Duelist Kingdom and then ejected from the island by Pegasus for using dirty tricks. I'm surprised to see him here."

(Ai) "Dirty tricks! What a scoundrel!"

(Yugi) "Keith, why are you here?"

(Keith) "It is true that this man is known as 'Bandit Keith.'"

(Yusaku) "This man?"

(Yugi) "Why does he call himself 'this man' as if he's talking about another person? And why is he after me…?"

Yusaku, Ai and Yugi are confused from Keith's words as the latter continues to explain.

(Keith) "After the fact, Keith was thrown into the sea and was about to drift away into nothingness if I hadn't came along. It's not surprising that he has a grudge against you, Yugi. Had you and your friends not been there, Keith would have gotten his hands on a large cash prize, as well as earning back the title of 'U.S. Duel Monsters Champion.'"

(Ai) "Woah woah, hold on! What on earth is he saying?"

(Yusaku) "You there, what are you talking about?!"

(Keith) "There's no need to know now. Anyway, are you done with your turn?"

(Yusaku) "... I set 2 cards and end my turn."

Yusaku demands to know the meaning behind his words as Keith didn't reply to his question and urges him to continue which Yusaku set his two cards and ending his turn.

Yusaku: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:3** ), ( **Field:6** )

Keith: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:6** ), ( **Field:4** )

(Ai) "You're not going for a Link Summon right now?"

(Yusaku) "There's too many unknown factors around this duel and I don't have a clear image of his strategy so I'm holding back for now."

(Keith) "My turn. Draw. I tribute **Ground Attacker Bugroth** to summon **Machine King** in ATK Mode."

His Machine monster vanishes as a new monster takes it place. It is a big humanoid robot with horns on its shoulder and head.

[ **Machine King/EARTH/Machine/LV 6/ATK 2200/DEF 2000** ]

(Keith) "By **Machine King** 's effect, its ATK goes up by 100 for every Machine monsters on the field."

[ **Machine King;** (2200 → 2500 ATK)]

(Ai) "His monster's ATK is increased to 2500!"

(Keith) "Battle. **Mecha Hunter** attacks **Draconnet**."

(Ai) "Huh? He's not attacking with **Machine King** who has higher ATK?"

(Yusaku) "I have a bad feeling! Quick-Play Spell, **Security Block**! **Draconnet** isn't destroyed by battle this turn! Damage also becomes 0!"

(Keith) "No use. Counter Trap, **Magic Jammer** activates! It let me discard a card from my hand and then negates the activation of a Spell Card, followed by its destruction."

(Yusaku) "What?!"

His opponent discard a card for the cost as a magic circle appears and spew purple haze that was send over to Yusaku's Spell Card to negate its effect and destroys it. Without his Spell Card to protect his monster, **Mecha Hunter** continues to attack as it sliced the digitize being into pieces.

Yusaku: (LP: 4000 - 450 = 3550)

(Yugi) " **Magic Jammer**! That is one of the Ultra rare cards."

(Keith) "At this moment, **BM-4 Bomb Spider** 's effect activates. Once per turn, when my DARK Machine monster destroys the opponent's monster by battle or effect and send it to the Graveyard, it can inflict damage equal to half of the original ATK of your destroyed monster to you."

(Yusaku) "So that's why he attack with **Mecha Hunter** instead of **Machine King** because its attribute is DARK while the other is EARTH!"

(Ai) "No way! **Draconnet** 's ATK is 1400 so that means-!"

(Yusaku) "I'll take 700 damage."

(Keith) "Take this. [ **Rocket Barrage**!]"

Keith's mechanical spider opens the lids and fires many missiles towards Yusaku due to its effect. Yusaku crossed his arms to brace himself for the attack as the missiles hit him and exploded upon impact.

Yusaku: (LP: 3550 - 700 = 2850)

(Yusaku) "Kuh…!"

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun!"

(Yusaku) "But... ! I activate the Trap Card, **Cyberse Beacon**! Since I took damage this turn, I can add 1 Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster in my deck to my hand."

(Keith) "I'm not finish with my attack. **Machine King** attacks **Bitron**. [ **Jet Punch**!]"

His monster rises its arm which fires a rocket punch towards Yusaku's set monster as white cybernetic being that's hovering in the air was revealed before being destroyed from that attack. The robot's arm flew back to its owner and reattached itself.

(Keith) "Finally, **BM-4 Bomb Spider** attacks your last monster."

The mechanical spider opens its lids again and fires many missiles towards **Stack Reviver** as a white square-shaped robot with data chips on both sides and metal arm-like claws reveal itself also before being destroyed in the explosion.

(Keith) "All of your monsters are now annihilated. This is the power of my Machine army. I set 1 cards. Turn end."

Yusaku: ( **LP: 2850** ), ( **Hand:4** ), ( **Field:1** )

Keith: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:4** ), ( **Field:4** )

(Ai) "This is bad, Yusaku! He already wipe out our monsters in our field! If you don't fight back soon, we will be in serious trouble!"

(Yusaku) "I know that!"

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun…"

(Keith) "What's wrong, Yugi? Are you gonna just sit back and watch your friend lose? If you wish to change places, then call out your other self like you did in Duelist Kingdom so we can settle this."

(Yugi) "Eh?!"

(Yusaku) "Other self?"

Yusaku is confused about this exchange as he saw Yugi's shocked expression which means he knows what Keith is talking about. He didn't understand what Keith mean by "other self" as the man continues to taunt Yugi.

(Keith) "Is this how the 'King of Duelists' plays? Letting others to duel for you while you sit back and watch?"

(Yugi) "I…"

(Yusaku) "Hey, I don't know what this is about but I'm not ready to give up yet."

(Keith) "Oh? You still fighting? Then let me see how much you can struggle against my Machine army."

(Yusaku) "We'll see about that. My turn! I draw! I summon **Cyberse Gadget**!"

A cybernetic robot with a various gadgets all over its body appears on the field. Its arm also have some sort of tablet attached to it.

[ **Cyberse Gadget/LIGHT/Cyberse/LV 4/ATK 1400/DEF 300** ]

(Yusaku) "When it's summoned, I can negate the effects of a Level 2 or lower monster in my Graveyard and Special Summon it in DEF Mode. Resurrect, **Stack Reviver**!"

Yusaku brings back one of his destroyed monsters as a white square-shaped robot with data chips on both sides appears on the field.

(Yusaku) "Next, I Special Summon **Backup Secretary**! I can Special Summon this card from my hand when there's a Cyberse monster on the field."

Yusaku summons a humanoid female with futuristic clothing and purple hair as it appears on the field. Its outfit consist of a purple suit, a visor and holding a tablet.

[ **Backup Secretary/LIGHT/Cyberse/LV 3/ATK 1200/DEF 800** ]

(Keith) "No matter how many small fries you bring, they won't be enough to stand a chance against my Machine army."

(Yusaku) "Are you sure? I'm going to play my trump card!"

(Keith) "Trump card?"

(Yusaku) "Appear, the circuit lead to the future!"

Yusaku is going for a Link Summon as his palm glows bright and the Arrowhead portal appears above him. Keith and Yugi were very surprised to see this action.

(Yugi) "What is that?"

(Keith) "You bastard… What are you trying to do?"

(Yusaku) "Arrowhead Confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two Effect monsters! I set **Cyberse Gadget** , **Stack Reviver** and **Backup Secretary** in the Link Markers!"

Three of his Cyberse monsters turns into hurricane-like energies as they went into three Link Markers which causes the portal to glow again.

(Yusaku) "Circuit Combine! **Link Summon**! Appear! **Link 3**! **Decode Talker**!"

Yusaku summons one of his ace monsters as a dark blue armored humanoid that look like a knight emerges from the portal and placed on the Extra Deck Zone. It has glowing purple orbs on several parts of its body with circuit-like patterns and wielding a purple light sword. It is one of his ace monsters that he gotten on his first Speed Duel.

[ **Decode Talker/DARK/Cyberse/Link 3/ATK 2300/↙** ↑↘]

(Ai) "Yeah! **Decode Talker** is here! Now things will get serious!"

(Keith) "Link Summon!?"

(Yugi) "I never heard or seen this kind of summoning method before…! So this is Yusaku's ace monster…!"

(Yusaku) " **Cyberse Gadget** 's effect activates from my Graveyard! When it's sent from the field to the Graveyard, I Special Summon 1 **Gadget Token**!"

A small robot is placed on the zone where one of **Decode Talker** 's link arrows point to.

[ **Gadget Token/LIGHT/Cyberse/LVL 2/ATK 0/DEF 0** ]

(Yusaku) "And when I use **Stack Reviver** to Link Summon, I Special Summon a Level 4 or lower Cyberse monster in DEF Mode. I resurrect **Cyberse Gadget**!"

Yusaku brought back one of his monster used for Link Summon as it is placed on the zone where one of **Decode Talker** 's link arrows point to.

(Yusaku) " **Decode Talker** 's effect activates! It gains 500 ATK for every monster it's linked to!"

(Keith) "What?!"

(Yusaku) "[ **Power Integration**!]"

Keith is shocked by this effect as **Decode Talker** 's link arrows have pointed three monsters; **Cyberse Gadget** , **Gadget Token** and **Mecha Hunter**. It's ATK increased by a huge margin as it glows.

[ **Decode Talker;** (2300 → 3800 ATK)]

(Keith) "3800 ATK?!"

(Yugi) "Yes! Its ATK is much higher than Keith's monsters!"

(Yusaku) "Battle! **Decode Talker** , attack **Machine King**! [ **Decode End**!]"

 **Decode Talker** hold its sword with both hands as it jumps up and slashed down at **Machine King** , causing the monster to explode into pieces.

Keith: (LP: 4000 - 1300 = 2700)

(Ai) "Yeah! That hunk of junk is history now! Get it?"

(Yusaku) "Shut it. I set 1 card and end my turn."

(Keith) "Kuh…!"

* * *

At a dark room where no light has shined through, one hooded figure is sitting on the throned while holding a staff that has an eye and is made of gold like the Millennium Puzzle as he pondered over this situation.

(Hooded Figure) "Who is this man? I was planning on dueling him to push Yugi into helping his friend and bring out the other soul. To see if he is the one that I'm looking for. However, this fellow is much better than I anticipated."

The hooded figure is the one controlling Keith in the first place. His plan was to steal Yugi's puzzle so he can duel him in order to see the other soul in the Millennium Puzzle. However, his plan went astray when Yusaku came in and challenge him instead. He decided to concede to this as he thought it would push the guilt in Yugi for involving someone with his problem and bring out his other self, but Yusaku managed to surprise him with cards and strategies he never seen before to overcome his moves.

(Hooded Figure) "I've been holding back so far in order to see the other soul in the Millennium Puzzle… It's about time I dropped the act and get serious! I'll use our special cards to attack him and have Yugi force out the other soul to help him!"

The hooded figure plans to go all out as his staff shines in an ominous glow.

* * *

Yusaku: ( **LP: 2850** ), ( **Hand:2** ), ( **Field:5** )

Keith: ( **LP: 2700** ), ( **Hand:4** ), ( **Field:3** )

(Keith) "My turn. Draw."

Keith draw the card as he let down his arm and secretly uses the mechanical claw in his hand to swap the card for a different one.

(Keith) "I tribute **Mecha Hunter** and **BM-4 Bomb Spider** for an Advance Summon. Come, **Revolver Dragon**!"

(Yusaku) " **Revolver Dragon**!?"

Keith's monsters have disappear which a new one replace them in their stead. It is a mechanical black dragon with three revolver guns, one on its head and the other two on its arms, as it stood on the field with a menacing atmosphere.

[ **Revolver Dragon/DARK/Machine/LV 7/ATK 2600/DEF 2000** ]

(Ai) "I really don't this… Looking at this thing makes me remember our duel against Revolver."

(Yugi) "That monster…! It is the one that give Jonouchi-kun a hard time beating it!"

(Keith) "And since one of my monsters is gone, your monster's ATK goes down."

[ **Decode Talker;** (3800 → 3300 ATK)]

(Yusaku) "But **Decode Talker** 's ATK is still higher than your dragon!"

(Keith) "I activate **Revolver Dragon** 's effect. I'll do three coin tosses and if 2 out of 3 results are heads, I destroy 1 monster you control."

(Yusaku) "What?! A Russian Roulette!?"

(Keith) "That's right. Russian Roulette, start!"

His mechanical dragon activate its effect which instead a coin toss, its revolvers start to spin as Yusaku, Ai and Yugi getting worry about the results when the spinning has stop with two click noise.

(Keith) "Looks like there are 2 out of 3 are heads. Then I activate the Continuous Trap, **Gun Cannon Shot**! Once per turn, if the monster's' effect involves a coin toss, I activate these effects! It there are more than 1 head, you take 500 damage and if there are 2 or more, I destroy another of your monster."

(Yusaku) "Another of my monsters!?"

(Keith) "I'll destroy both of your monsters that are linked to your ace. [ **Gun Cannon Shot**!]"

His mechanical dragon fires three shots which two of them destroys Yusaku's monster that are linked to **Decode Talker** while the third one hits him. **Decode Talker** 's ATK has decreased due to both monsters are gone.

Yusaku: (LP: 2850 - 500 = 2350)

[ **Decode Talker;** (3300 → 2300 ATK)]

(Ai) "Oh no~! **Decode Talker** 's ATK are back to normal and his dragon is now higher than ours!"

(Yusaku) "At this moment, I activate **Cyberse Gadget** 's effect once more to Special Summon 1 **Gadget Token**!"

Yusaku summons another token which it was placed on the zone where one of **Decode Talker** 's link arrows point to as the Link monster powers up again.

[ **Decode Talker;** (2300 → 2800 ATK)]

(Ai) "Ha! Caught you off guard, huh? Our monster have gain more ATK points than your monster so we're still in the advantage!"

(Yusaku) "Be quiet. You do realized that no one can hear you in this place other than me."

(Ai) "Ah! That's right! Ughh… I don't like the fact that no one will noticed my charm..."

(Keith) "Your monster's ATK may be higher than my monster, but it won't be for long."

Keith makes an ominous statement as he secretly uses the mechanical claw in his hand to swap cards again.

(Keith) "I activate the Equip Spell, **Machine Conversion Factory**! I equip this to **Revolver Dragon** and increase its ATK and DEF by 300."

(Yugi) "What?! That card is also rare!"

Yugi is shocked about this as **Revolver Dragon** gains more ATK.

[ **Revolver Dragon;** (2600 → 2900 ATK)]

(Ai) "Damn! The differences may be small, but that's enough to destroy **Decode Talker**!"

(Keith) "Battle! **Revolver Dragon** , attack **Decode Talker**!"

His mechanical dragon's revolvers start to spin again as Ai panickedly warn Yusaku about this.

(Ai) "Yusaku! You've got to do something quickly!"

(Yusaku) "I know! I activate the Trap Card, **Doppler Phase Coating**! I equip this card on **Decode Talker**! Once per turn, the equipped monster isn't destroyed in battle!"

(Keith) "But you still take damage."

Yusaku activate his Trap Card which prevent his monster's destruction as the mechanical dragon's revolvers shot out bullets towards **Decode Talker** and get hit by them but isn't destroyed while Yusaku received the small damage.

Yusaku: (LP: 2350 - 100 = 2250)

(Keith) "Tch. You're really a tenacious fellow. I set 1 card. Turn end."

Yusaku: ( **LP: 2250** ), ( **Hand:2** ), ( **Field:3** )

Keith: ( **LP: 2700** ), ( **Hand:2** ), ( **Field:4** )

(Ai) "Whew! We managed to protect **Decode Talker** , but we still have to deal with that gambling machine. I don't want to take any chances on luck."

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun is amazing. He wouldn't give up even when driven to the corner while calmly analyzing the enemy, just like the other me…"

(Yusaku) "My turn. Draw! I tribute **Gadget Token** to Advance Summon **Condenser Deathstalker**!"

Yusaku summons a cybernetic scorpion with a condenser on the tip of its tail as it stood where the Token used to be.

[ **Condenser Deathstalker/LIGHT/Cyberse/LV 5/ATK 2000/DEF 1500** ]

(Yusaku) " **Condenser Deathstalker** 's effect activates! When it's summoned, as long as it's on the field, my Cyberse monster gains 800 ATK!"

The cybernetic scorpion reflects a ray towards **Decode Talker** as it gains more ATK.

[ **Decode Talker;** (2800 → 3600 ATK)]

(Yusaku) "And when an effect destroys **Condenser Deathstalker** , we both take 800 damage. Next, I activate the Equip Spell, **Cynet Defrag** from my hand! I Special Summon the Cyberse monster **Bitron** from my Graveyard in DEF Mode. I equip **Cynet Defrag** on **Bitron**!"

Yusaku summons back the white cybernetic being as it was placed on the zone where one of **Decode Talker** 's link arrows point to as the Link monster powers up again.

[ **Decode Talker;** (3600 → 4100 ATK)]

(Yugi) "4100 ATK!?"

(Ai) "Nice, Yusaku! Let's take down that tank!"

(Yusaku) "Battle! **Decode Talker** , attack **Revolver Dragon**! [ **Decode End**!]"

 **Decode Talker** hold its sword with both hands as it jumps up and slashed down at **Revolver Dragon** 's head, causing the monster to explode into pieces.

Keith: (LP: 2700 - 1200 = 1500)

(Keith) "I activate the Trap Card, **Time Machine**! It brings back the destroyed monster in the same position and spot where it was destroyed."

(Yusaku) "What?!"

Yusaku is shocked about this effect as a big machine appears out from the mist and opens the door where **Revolver Dragon** came out unscratched with its original ATK.

(Ai) "Ah! We give a big damage to him, but he managed to bring back that hunk of trouble!"

(Yusaku) "I end my turn."

Yusaku: ( **LP: 2250** ), ( **Hand:1** ), ( **Field:6** )

Keith: ( **LP: 1500** ), ( **Hand:2** ), ( **Field:3** )

(Ai) "This doesn't look good, Yusaku. If he activates his monster's effect, he will wipe out our monsters like before."

(Yusaku) "Even he can use that effect, it's all depend on chances."

(Yugi) " **Revolver Dragon** 's effect depends on the number of heads so if Keith didn't get 2 out of 3, he won't activate his dragon's effect."

(Hooded Figure) _Hmph. That's what you both think. I'm not foolish enough to rely on luck forever. Time to push him even further._

(Keith) "My turn. Draw. I activate the Spell Card, **Graceful Charity** , which let's me draw three cards, then discard two from my hand."

Keith was about to draw due to the effect of **Graceful Charity** which he illegally placed three cards on top of his Deck right before drawing them and discard two from his hand.

(Keith) "I activate the Ultra rare Ritual Spell, **Zera Ritual**!"

A dark mist appears out of nowhere and when it was disperses, a hooded figure is sitting on a demonic throne which Yugi is surprised to hear the name.

(Yugi) "Eh? **Zera Ritual**? It's card that lets you Ritual Summon **Zera** once you sacrifice monsters equaling to Level 8 or more."

(Keith) "That's right. **Zera** is one of the strongest Fiend monsters."

(Ai) "Ritual Summon?"

(Yusaku) "It is a summoning method where you activate a Ritual Spell Card that let you sacrifice monsters from your hand or field by the required Level to summon a Ritual monster."

(Ai) "Hee... Those kind of cards exist?"

(Yugi) "B-But…! There's only three original cards in the entire world...! I've never even _seen_ it! It's an ultra rare card even among other Ultra rares. My grandpa told me himself!"

(Yusaku) "Another Ultra rare card? Could it be..?"

Yusaku is feeling suspicious about Keith drawing rare cards to his advantage when his opponent shows the **Zera** card.

(Yugi) "It can't be!"

(Keith) "I'm sacrificing **Metal Devilzoa** from my hand in order for a Ritual Summon. Come forth, **Zera**!"

A metal demon appears on the field before turning into blue flames and went towards the hooded figure is sitting on a demonic throne which covers it in flames as well. Soon, it took shaped in a demonic form before dispersing and reveals a blue skeletal demon with razor sharp claws and a purple cape as it roars and stood on the field next to **Revolver Dragon**.

[ **Metal Devilzoa/DARK/Machine/LV 8/ATK 3000/DEF 2300** ]

[ **Zera/DARK/Fiend/Ritual/LVL 8/ATK 2800/DEF 2300** ]

(Ai) "What a scary monster! But **Decode Talker** still has higher ATK than that Ritual monster so we still in the league!"

(Keith) "I activate **Revolver Dragon** 's effect which let me do three coin tosses once more. Russian Roulette, start!"

(Yusaku) "He activate his dragon's effect again!"

Yusaku brace himself for the effect as the mechanical dragon's revolvers start to spin. However, Keith surprises him by activate his Trap Card in his Graveyard.

(Keith) "At this moment, I activate the other **Gun Cannon Shot** that was discarded in my Graveyard! Its other effect activates when there is an effect depending on 2 or more coin tosses. I banish this card in my Graveyard to change the results to all heads."

(Yusaku) "All of them are heads!?"

(Yugi) "No way!"

(Ai) "You've gotta be kidding me!"

Yusaku, Ai and Yugi are dumbfounded by this effect as they heard three clicks from the dragon's revolvers when they stopped spinning.

(Keith) "Due to my dragon's effect, I destroy one of your monsters if the results are 2 or more heads. Then I activate my Trap Card's effect on the field depending the number of heads. I activate the first and second effect which deals you 500 damage and destroy another of your monster while the third let me see your cards in your hand and discard it."

(Yusaku) "Discard from my hand…!"

(Keith) "You've only have 1 card so you discard that and I'll destroy both of your monsters that are linked to your ace monster once more. Go, **Revolver Dragon**! [ **Gun Cannon Shot**!]"

His mechanical dragon fires three shots which two of them destroys Yusaku's monster that are linked to **Decode Talker** like last time while the third one deals him 500 damage and discard his last one.

Yusaku: (LP: 2250 - 500 = 1750)

[ **Decode Talker;** (4100 → 2300 ATK)]

(Yusaku) "But… If an effect destroys **Condenser Deathstalker** , we both take 800 damage!"

A shockwave came out of nowhere and hit both players which they lose Life points due to **Condenser Deathstalker** 's effect.

Yusaku: (LP: 1750 - 800 = 950)

Keith: (LP: 1500 - 800 = 700)

(Keith) "But now **Decode Talker** loses its gained ATK which it's enough for monsters to attack. Battle! **Revolver Dragon** , attack **Decode Talker**!"

The mechanical dragon's revolvers fires another round of bullets towards **Decode Talker** and it get hit by them but isn't destroyed due to the protection of Yusaku's Trap Card.

Yusaku: (LP: 950 - 300 = 650)

(Yusaku) " **Decode Talker** isn't destroyed by battle once per turn!"

(Keith) "But you still take damage and that's only the first attack. My other monster will finish it off. Go, **Zera**! [ **Devil's Claw**!]"

His Ritual monster charges at **Decode Talker** and sliced its arms off as it was destroyed completely.

Yusaku: (LP: 650 - 500 = 150)

(Yusaku) "Gaahh…!"

(Ai) "No! **Decode Talker**!"

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun!"

(Keith) "I end my turn."

Yusaku: ( **LP: 150** ), ( **Hand:0** ), ( **Field:1** )

Keith: ( **LP: 700** ), ( **Hand:0** ), ( **Field:3** )

Keith managed to destroy Yusaku's ace monster and depleted a lot of his Life points which start to worry Ai and Yugi.

(Yugi) _At this rate, I won't be able to get back the Millennium Puzzle and Yusaku will lose his deck! What should I do?_

(Keith) "What's wrong, Yugi? Worrying about your friend will lose? If you want, bring out the invincible Yugi in Duelist Kingdom and take his place."

(Yugi) _Keith shouldn't have known about the other me. Why does he want to bring him out?_

(Hooded Figure) "Now! Come out! The other Yugi! Are you the man I believe you to be? Come out and help your friend this instant!"

The hooded figure using Keith to taunt Yugi in order to bring out the other soul in the Millennium Puzzle once more. Yugi is hesitating on what to do until he was reassured by Yusaku.

(Yusaku) "This fight's not over! I'm still standing!"

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun...!"

(Keith) "Oh? You're still planning to fight me?"

(Yusaku) "I won't give up! Not to a fake duelist like you…!"

(Keith) "What do you mean by that?"

(Yusaku) "You have been swapping your cards with Ultra rare ones during our duel, is that right?"

(Yugi) "What?!"

(Ai) "Eh?! Is that true?"

(Hooded Figure) "Oh? He figured out in a few turns?"

The hooded figure is silently surprised at Yusaku's deduction while Ai and Yugi were surprised as well as Yusaku explain this to them.

(Yusaku) "I thought it was strange for you to use too many rare cards so you must have been swapping cards during your turn secretly. The distance between our duel boxes is the perfect chance to cover up your dirty tricks!"

(Yugi) "I get it! I thought it was strange for him to use cards unrelated to his Machine deck."

(Ai) "This really burns me up! He should be disqualified in this duel!"

(Keith) "So what? There are no monsters on your field and you have no cards in your hand. Your Life points is only 150, and you're barely standing. Yet you still want to continue?"

(Yusaku) "I have three reasons for not losing this duel! #1: You've don't believe in your deck and relied way too much on Ultra rare cards! #2: Your conceitedness will be the cause of your downfall! #3: I'm going to beat you using the deck that I've built to reach my goal! My turn! Draw!"

Yusaku place his faith in his deck as he look at the card he drew and saw the chance to turn this duel around.

(Yusaku) "This is it! First, I activate the Trap Card, **Recoded Alive**! I banish **Decode Talker** from my Graveyard. I Special Summon a monster with ' **Code Talker** ' in its name from my Extra Deck! Come, **Encode Talker**!"

Yusaku summons another blue armored humanoid that look similar to **Decode Talker** except with lighter color scheme, yellow orbs and wielding a shield as it was placed on the Extra Deck Zone.

[ **Encode Talker/LIGHT/Cyberse/Link 3/ATK 2300/** ↑↓↘]

(Yusaku) "Next, I summon **Balancer Lord**!"

A white and green cybernetic knight wielding a sword and shield appears on the field as it is placed on the zone that **Encode Talker** 's link arrows points to.

[ **Balancer Lord/LIGHT/Cyberse/LV 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1200** ]

(Yusaku) "Battle! **Balancer Lord** attacks **Zera**!"

(Keith) "What? You're attacking **Zera** with that monster?"

(Yugi) "Why?! **Zera** has higher ATK than any of Yusaku-kun's monsters."

(Yusaku) " **Encode Talker** 's effect activates! The linked monster isn't destroyed in battle! And I take no damage!"

Yusaku's monster charges at **Zera** which the latter tries to slash at the attacker who block it with its shield as the monster wasn't destroyed in battle due to **Encode Talker** 's effect.

(Keith) "What's the point of attacking then?"

(Yusaku) "This is why! Until the end of this turn, **Encode Talker** gains ATK equal to **Zera** 's ATK!"

(Keith) "What!?"

The hooded figure behind Keith is surprised by this as **Encode Talker** gains ATK equal to the Ritual monster's ATK.

[ **Encode Talker;** (2300 → 5100 ATK)]

(Yugi) "I see! Yusaku-kun attacked with his monster in order to activate his Link monster's effect to power it up! If this attack hits, Yusaku-kun will win!"

(Hooded Figure) "Impossible!"

(Ai) "Yeah! Finish off this cheater!"

(Yusaku) "Battle! **Encode Talker** attacks **Zera**!"

His Link monster turn its shield downward which a blade came out from the bottom as Yusaku ready to deliver the final blow.

(Yusaku) "I'll end this! [ **Final** -!]"

(Keith) "Gaaahhh!"

Yusaku pause his attack when Keith suddenly screamed and pull his head down with a confused expression as if he doesn't understand what's going on now.

(Keith) "I… What am I doing here?!"

(Ai) "What with this act? First, he cheated during the duel and now he stop our attack by acting like he doesn't understand what he's doing here? This is totally fake!"

(Yusaku) "No. I sense that he wasn't faking at all."

(Ai) "Eh?! Really?"

(Keith) "Wait…! You're Yugi over there, aren't you…!? Why are you here?! And why am I dueling this person?! Aaarrgghhh!"

(Yugi) "Keith, what's wrong with you?!"

Yusaku, Ai and Yugi were confused of Keith's sudden behavior when he start shouting things that most of them here doesn't understand.

(Keith) "Millennium Puzzle…? Who's there?! Who's trying to order me around?!"

(Yugi) "What?"

(Yusaku) "Order?"

(Keith) "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Keith held his head as if he's trying to keep off the voice in his mind while Yusaku and Ai are dumbfounded of this situation.

(Ai) "Woah Woah! What's wrong with him all of the sudden?! Now he start shouting nonsense like someone ordering him and getting it out of his head. He's going crazy."

(Yugi) "Is this what my other self was talking about?! Is someone controlling Keith?"

(Yusaku) "Yugi?"

(Keith) "Stop! STOP IT!"

Yusaku was confused when he heard Yugi's words while Keith continues to scream until he went down from his duel box and headed straight to the Millennium Puzzle as he held the item in his hand.

(Keith) "This thing?! It's because of this thing that I…?!"

(Yugi) "Aah! Don't do it, Keith!"

Realizing what he's about to do, Yugi shouted out to Keith in panicked. His fear has come true as Keith shatter the Puzzle against the Yusaku's duel box, breaking into pieces and shocking everyone in the present, especially the horrified Yugi.

(Yugi) "My… Millennium Puzzle…"

(Yusaku) "What are you doing?!"

(Keith) "Stop! STOP IT!"

(Unknown Male) "YUGI-KUN!"

(Yusaku) "What?!"

Keith continues shouting words in fear when a boy swung down from above, knocking Keith off the arena. Yusaku is shocked at this boy's intrusion as he saw his appearance. The boy is wearing the same uniform as Yugi and has white hair that is pointed downwards in various directions and trails half way down his back.

Yugi is also shocked at this person appearance as he cames up the arena. Yusaku realized that the duel can't be continued as he grabs his cards and deck which his monsters vanishes and gets down from his box to confront the two.

 **DUEL: No result**

(Yugi) "Bakura-kun! What are you doing here?"

(Bakura) "Yugi-kun! Anzu-chan told me what happened so I came here and help you."

(Yusaku) "Yugi, is this someone you know as well?"

(Bakura) "Hi there. I don't believe we met. I'm Bakura Ryou. I'm a classmate and friend of Yugi. You are?"

(Yusaku) "Fujiki. Yusaku Fujiki. I'm new around here and saw him in trouble so I decided to help."

(Yugi) "He's alright, Bakura-kun. He took my place to duel against Keith to win back my Puzzle."

(Bakura) "I see. Thanks you for helping, Fujiki-kun. Unfortunately, the Millennium Puzzle has break into pieces."

Bakura and Yusaku give their greetings to each other as they gathering the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle and give them to Yugi.

(Bakura) "Now then, it's your responsibility to put this back together again. That's what the Puzzle would want, anyway…"

(Yugi) "Yes! Thank you! But I don't know how long it will take to put together the Millennium Puzzle again. It took me eight years to put it together the first time."

(Ai) "Eight years?! What kind of Puzzle is this? It doesn't look that hard to put together."

(Yusaku) "Be quiet."

Yusaku silenced Ai for being annoying and wanting to hear their conversation as Yugi looked at the remaining pieces that still stucked on the arena.

(Yugi) "I don't know when I can see you again… Even if it takes me another seven years or even ten, I will complete it!"

(Bakura) "Yugi-kun! You forgot this piece here."

(Yugi) "Thank you, Bakura-kun! If even one piece is missing, I can't complete the Puzzle!"

(Bakura) "That's right. Ah! We're gonna be late if we don't go to school!"

Bakura said that as he climbs down the arena while Yugi thanks him.

(Yugi) "Thanks a lot, Bakura-kun!"

(Bakura) "Aah!"

Bakura suddenly fell down hard when he slipped and landed on his bottom as he soothe the pain. Yusaku is dumbfounded a little at this clumsy act.

(Yugi) "Are you okay?"

(Bakura) "Yeah! I'm gonna be on ahead!"

(Yugi) "Okay! I'm gonna go get the remaining piece attached to the chain."

(Yusaku) "Let me help you with that."

(Yugi) "Thanks, Yusaku-kun!"

Yusaku helps Yugi to get the remaining piece that was staked on the arena while Bakura leaves the warehouse. As they tried to take it down, Yusaku use this chance to talk to Yugi about something.

(Yusaku) "I've been meaning to ask you about something. That man said about the other Yugi in Duelist Kingdom and you say something like that as well. Care to tell me what this is about?"

(Yugi) "Oh that. It is kind of a weird story, it is the true and you help me a lot today so I'll tell you. You see-"

(Keith) "Who are you? Who the hell are you?! DON'T YOU DARE ORDER ME AROUND!"

Yugi have stop talking when a voice interrupted their conversation. Both of them face in that voice's direction where they saw Keith who gets up and start flinging around with his pipe that he grabbed. Eventually, he hit the arena power unit which start to causing a fire in the warehouse as Yusaku and Yugi panicked about this.

(Yugi) "Aah! A fire!"

(Ai) "What on earth did that crazy man doing?! Is he trying to burn us down with him?!"

(Yusaku) "No time for questions! We've got to get out of here! Yugi, come on!"

(Yugi) "I have to take the Millennium Puzzle first!"

(Yusaku) "Then hurry!"

Yusaku tries to get Yugi out of the building as the latter struggles to pull the Puzzle with no luck at all. Yugi isn't strong enough to break the chains as he felt tired.

(Yugi) "No use! I can't pull it out!"

(Yusaku) "Leave it! We have to go before this place burns down!"

(Yugi) "No! I can't leave the Millennium Puzzle! It's important to me!"

(Yusaku) "Don't be stubborn! You've only have one live! You have friends and family waiting for you!"

(Yugi) "I won't leave the other me behind! He is also my important friend too!"

Yusaku is taken back by Yugi's reason as he saw the latter begin placing the pieces into the Puzzle.

(Yusaku) "Yugi, what are you doing?!"

(Yugi) "I'm… putting the Millennium Puzzle back together…! If I do, the other me will figure things out!"

(Ai) "Right now?! This guy is going crazy too!"

(Yusaku) "There's no time for that! We have to leave!"

(Yugi) "No! If it gets burned in the fire, I'll never get to see my other self again!"

(Yusaku) "Yugi!"

Yusaku tries to reason with him when Yugi stared back at Yusaku with determined expression. Realizing that Yugi is serious and noticing about his other self, Yusaku reluctantly decided to concede to Yugi's choice.

(Yusaku) "...Fine. I'll stand here to wait for you to finish. I can't just leave you here to die."

(Ai) "Yusaku!?"

(Yugi) "Thank you, Yusaku… And sorry…"

(Yusaku) "This is my choice."

Yusaku said that as Yugi putting together his Puzzle as Yusaku stand there and watch him doing it. Ai panickedly ask Yusaku about his decision.

(Ai) "Are you seriously saying that?! If we don't leave, we'll get burned along with him!"

(Yusaku) "Yugi is serious about this and there are reasons I'm doing this. If these people really talking about the other Yugi in that Puzzle, then he must be our real holder of the Chronicle Factor. If so, then I have to see him for myself if he really our target."

(Ai) "Who cares about that now! If we don't leave, we will die in this world! And he said it only took him eight years to complete that puzzle! We have very little time to do that!"

(Yusaku) "Don't worry about that. If we die here, we only get send back to our own reality. Besides, I sense a strong will in Yugi's words so I have to believe in him! Humans have the potential to create miracles in their own hands!"

(Ai) "I cannot comprehend!"

(Yugi) "I'm sorry, my other self. I got your soul broken! Just wait! I will complete the puzzle! Once I do, we'll meet again and I'll apologize to you."

Ai felt a headache from his owner's reason as he cannot understand it. Yugi keeps placing the pieces together into the Puzzle as Yusaku watches him go. The fire is getting more intense by every second as Yusaku starts to sweat from the increasing heat despite he is in the virtual world.

(Ai) "Hurry up, Yusaku! The situation is getting badder for every second if we don't leave!"

(Yusaku) "I know…! Just shut up and behave yourself!"

(Yugi) "I… I did it."

After putting the final piece, Yugi has managed to complete the Puzzle before passing out from the heat. Yusaku came to his side as he tries to take Yugi away from here.

(Ai) "Who would have thought that this guy managed to complete it in time!"

(Yusaku) "Yugi, wake up! We have to go now!"

(Yugi) "I… I can't leave without the Puzzle."

Yusaku tries to wake Yugi who still can't leave the Puzzle before passing out again. Then Yusaku tries to remove Yugi's hand from the Puzzle only the latter held tight to it and doesn't plan to let go as the fire getting intense.

(Ai) "You've gotta be kidding me! Did he glued his hand to it without us looking?!"

(Yusaku) "This item must be very important to him to go this far…"

(Unknown Male) _Yusaku! Pull the chains with the pipes!_

"!?" Yusaku suddenly heard a voice in his head and turns around to see no one in the area. It appears that Keith has managed to escape the warehouse unharmed without them noticing.

(Yusaku) "Ai, do you say something just now?"

(Ai) "Huh? No, why?"

(Yusaku) "I just heard a voice in my head for some reason. I'm wondering if there's someone else here as well."

(Ai) "No, I didn't hear anyone coming here. That crazy man has already left screaming. Don't tell me that you're going crazy as well!?"

Yusaku ignores Ai's jokes as he pondered over this.

 _Could it be the one that everyone is talking about? The other Yugi? But what did he mean by pull the chains with the pipes?_ Yusaku thought of that when he saw several pipes on the floor and realized the meaning. He went to pick one up and insert it through the hole of the stake as he pulls the pipe along with it.

(Ai) "What are you doing now, Yusaku?!"

(Yusaku) "I'm pulling the chains with this pipe…! That way, I remove the Puzzle and bring it out along with Yugi!"

(Ai) "I see! Put more strength to it then! Go, Yusaku!"

(Yusaku) "Be quiet! Your cheering doesn't help me concentrate…! No good, it is staked in too deep. I'm not strong enough to pull it."

(Ai) "You've kidding me! I wasted my cheers for you on that one!"

(Unknown Male) "Yugi, where are you?"

Yusaku turns to that direction where he find two guys wearing the same school uniform as Bakura and Yugi. One of them has dirty blond hair in the sporadic hairstyle and dark brown eyes while the other has brown hair is arranged such that a large portion spikes out from the front of his head. Both of them saw Yusaku and Yugi as they call out to them.

(Blonde male) "Yugi! You there! What are you doing to him?!"

(Yusaku) "Are you guys his friends?! Help me get him out of here!"

(Brown male) "What happened?!"

(Yusaku) "His Puzzle is stucked to the arena and I'm trying to pull it out! Can you both help me with this?!"

(Brown male) "Puzzle?! What does he mean by that?"

(Blonde male) "Doesn't matter! Let's go help him, Honda!"

(Honda) "Right, Jonouchi!"

Both guys, Jonouchi and Honda, went up the arena and help Yusaku in the predicament as they look at Yugi's condition.

(Honda) "Hang on! Yugi, are you okay?"

(Yusaku) "He passed out from heat stroke while finishing his Puzzle. The item break earlier before the fire came in and he tries to piece it together despite the danger. He even held tight to the Puzzle in his condition and refused to let go, no matter how hard I tried."

(Jonouchi) "Yugi…"

(Honda) "What's this idiot thinking?!"

(Yusaku) "I'm trying to pull it out along with the chain using this pipe, but it is digged too deep for me to pull!"

(Jonouchi) "With this? Okay, I'll help out! Honda, are you ready?"

(Honda) "Yeah!"

Two of them joined Yusaku on pulling the chain as they held on the pipe tightly.

(Jonouchi) "1, 2, 3… Pull!"

Three of them start to pull as the stake finally to pull out and they fell from their success, letting the stake fall along the chains.

(Honda) "We did it!"

(Yusaku) "Let's hurry and get out of here! Ugh…!"

Yusaku staggers a little due to the long exposure to the heat despite being virtual as Jonouchi holds him while Honda carries Yugi.

(Jonouchi) "Don't push yourself! I'll hold you until we get out of here."

(Yusaku) "Thanks…"

The guys have start running out of the burning warehouse as they avoiding burning debris along the way. When they finally outside, Yusaku saw several firemen and fire trunks trying to put out the fire while Anzu saw the gang with a relief expression and cames over.

(Anzu) "Yugi!"

(Jonouchi) "It's alright! Yugi's fine! Look! He completed the Puzzle inside of the fire! He wouldn't let go, no matter how hard we pulled him! What a bond they have..."

(Anzu) "Yugi…"

His three close friends look at Yugi with amazement while Yusaku and Ai felt relieved that they made it out of their predicament.

(Ai) "Thank god… What a way to start our journey…"

(Yusaku) "Yeah…"

(Jonouchi) "Huh? Do you say something?"

(Yusaku) "Nothing."


	3. Battle City Start!

**Authors Note** ; Sorry for the hold up! I have to do a few test in college in order to make up my grades so I delayed my writing. However, that is now passed and I post more stories during the holidays! Also, if you take that I skipping the scenes too fast, I'm sorry as well. Thanks for reading!

* **I don't own** **Yu-Gi-Oh!** **VRAINS** **show! I own the OC characters and cards!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Battle City Start!**

Yusaku and Yugi are transferred to Domino Hospital to check on their wounds. Yusaku's condition seem normal which the doctors decided to release him earlier while Yugi need to stay there for one day.

Yusaku knew himself that this place is a virtual simulation of the other world which is why he doesn't seem to have injuries. Right now, he is in Yugi's hospital room along with his friends.

(Yugi) "I appreciate for all of the help you've done for me, Yusaku-kun. Still, I'm feel bad that you got caught up in this mess."

(Yusaku) "I've told you before that this is my choice. Don't worry."

(Yugi) "Still, thank you."

(Jonouchi) "Same here! I'm Katsuya Jonouchi, a classmate and best friend of Yugi!"

(Honda) "I'm Hiroto Honda! Same thing like Jonouchi here! Nice to meet ya!"

(Anzu) "I'm Anzu Mazaki and I'm really thankful for you helping Yugi earlier!"

(Yusaku) "Yusaku Fujiki. Nice to meet you all."

The gang give their greetings to Yusaku who does the same as the topic has been shifted about the Millennium Puzzle.

(Yusaku) "I'm still impressed that you managed to complete the Puzzle in that fire."

(Yugi) "Me too. It took me eight years to put the Millennium Puzzle together the first time. This time I did it in no time at all. It's as if my other self was helping me put together the puzzle."

(Jonouchi) "I see."

(Yusaku) "You keeping talking about your other self. What do you mean by that?"

(Yugi) "Oh! I forgot to mention this earlier to you when we got interrupted and that fire has started. In the Millennium Puzzle, there is another soul in this item that duels in my place."

(Yusaku) "Another soul?"

(Yugi) "Yeah, it sounded unbelievable but it is the truth. He came out when I finished putting together the Millennium Puzzle a while back…"

Yugi explaining about his other self to Yusaku who listening carefully. The other Yugi is the real "King of Duelists" and the cause of Yugi's success. He came from the Millennium Puzzle when Yugi finished it and takes over whenever he's in his duels. He helped him and his friends out of their predicaments many times in Duelist Kingdom and other times.

(Yusaku) "That is really unbelievable story…"

(Yugi) "Yeah, I know it sound weird but it's all true."

(Jonouchi) "I can vouch for that! You see, I'm also a duelist and the other Yugi's number one rival!"

(Honda) "Wouldn't that be number two? Kaiba beat you for the spot for Yugi's top rival."

(Jonouchi) "Shut it, Honda!"

(Yusaku) "However, I think I believe that your story might be real… The true is, back then I heard an unknown voice telling me what to do in that incident earlier. That must have been the other Yugi you've mentioned."

(Jonouchi) "See! I knew the other Yugi would figure things out! He is real and also our friend as well!"

(Honda) "Yeah! But I thought you guys were gonners when we found you."

(Yugi) "Thank you, guys too! You both saved my life as well!"

(Honda) "It's no big deal."

(Jonouchi) "It's something anyone would do."

(Anzu) "I'll go get us something to drink."

(Yugi) "Thanks, Anzu!"

Anzu offer the gang for some drinks as she gets out of the room. Yusaku noticed that her behavior seemed to bit off when Jonouchi ask something to Yusaku.

(Jonouchi) "Yusaku, I heard from Yugi that you take his place to duel against that creep Keith."

(Yusaku) "Yeah, that's right."

(Jonouchi) "Then you won't mind that I face you here right now?"

(Yusaku) "You and me in a duel?"

(Jonouchi) "Yeah! I wanna give you a warm welcome duel for visiting Domino City and see how strong you are as a duelist."

Jonouchi challenge Yusaku in a duel as he show off his deck while the latter is perplexed about it.

Five minutes later-

(Jonouchi) "Gaahh! I lost!"

Jonouchi threw his cards in frustration as he easily lose against Yusaku three times in a row. Yugi and Honda have wry expressions towards their friend while Yusaku seem indifferent about it.

(Jonouchi) "I can't believe that I lost so easily again! This deck helps me get through in Duelist Kingdom. Why am I so unlucky…?"

(Yusaku) "I can think of some reasons of why you've lost. #1: Your deck is unbalance which causes too many holes in your strategies. #2: You rely too much on your luck and didn't depend much on your skills. #3: You are overconfident on your past victories that you've been neglected improving your deck."

(Jonouchi) "Wha-?!"

Jonouchi was taken back and turned speechless due to Yusaku stating out those three facts about him as Honda laughs at this.

(Honda) "Ha Ha Ha! He has gotten you there, Jonouchi! Yusaku spoken out your three main bad points!"

(Jonouchi) "Whaaaat! What do you mean my three _main_ bad points?!"

(Honda) "What the hell?! Ain't it true?!"

(Jonouchi) "Why you-!"

(Yugi) "Stop fighting in a hospital, you two."

Yugi tries to warn the two as Jonouchi start to pick a fight with Honda which led to their usual bickering. Anzu then enters the room with drinks and saw the usual commotion between those two which led to her asking what the cause of the argument. Honda delightedly summarize what happened between Jonouchi and Yusaku which Anzu laughs as well as Jonouchi delivers a grapple hook to Honda in anger. Eventually, Yugi joins in the laughter as Yusaku saw the close bond between those four.

(Yusaku) _Friends, huh…_

* * *

After saying his goodbyes to Yugi's group, Yusaku left the hospital and walking through the streets of Domino City. The city's scenery is just like Den City as Ai came out and start teasing Yusaku about his reactions from earlier.

(Ai) "What's wrong? Your face look a bit sulky than usual. Could it be that you're jealous of their friendship earlier, huh?"

(Yusaku) "I prefer that you stay silent along the way."

(Ai) "How cold. Just what I expected from you. Well, even you don't have many friends, you still got me!"

(Yusaku) "I've told you before that there's no friendship between us. I don't need warmth from people."

(Ai) "Aaw! I also expected of you saying that. You're still colder than an AI. Anyway, looks like our objective of gaining the trust of our target is a success. Now what?"

(Yusaku) "We have to wait for something happen in this world and join Yugi on his adventures."

(Ai) "Eh?! Then where we will stay before that happens?"

(Yusaku) "We have to find a place ourselves."

(Ai) "Why did I figured you would say that... Hm?"

Ai became dejected when hearing his owner's word before noticing a small light flashing on the Duel Disk.

(Ai) "What this?"

(Yusaku) "What's wrong?"

(Ai) "There's a beeping light coming out from your disk. Could it be from Mysterio?"

(Yusaku) "Maybe. He shows up when we don't know where to find our target."

Yusaku stated as he has Ai to check on the flashing light which a digital key appears in front of them.

(Ai) "What this? A key?"

(Yusaku) "A gift from Mysterio perhaps, but for what… Wait a minute."

Yusaku grabs the key and insert it to one of the doors of the stores near him when he heard a click sound which indicates it was open. Then he enters where he find himself a white chamber with a bed on the side and a table in the middle. There's also a clock which indicates the time.

(Ai) "Whoa! What is this place?"

(Yusaku) "Something that our accomplice left for us."

(Unknown Voice) "Welcome to the Chamber of History. I'm been waiting for you."

Yusaku turns to the voice where he find someone sitting on a chair while having tea. The person is dress up like a butler with a golden mask on his face. On the right side has a clock symbol in place of the right eye as the mysterious person gets up after putting his tea down.

(Ai) "Huh?! Who are you?"

(Axl) "Pardon my late introduction. My name is Axl, an AI designed by my creator, Master Mysterio. On my creator's order, I'm here to assist and guide you through the archives of the Akashic Records."

(Ai) "Our own butler, huh? How classy of that weirdo."

(Yusaku) "Then can you tell me what this place is? And how will you help me?"

(Axl) "Certainly. This is the Chamber of History where it is separates and isolate both of you from the timeline of that world."

(Ai) "Wait! You can see and hear me?"

(Axl) "Of course, Mister Ai. I'm not part of the Akashic Records so it is natural."

(Ai) "Oh, I see!"

(Yusaku) "What do you meant by 'separate and isolate me'?"

(Axl) "This chamber existed in a separate digital space in the Akashic Records where time doesn't flow here. Here, you can move to the next event with little time to spare."

(Yusaku) "Move to the next event?"

(Axl) "My creator has little patiences so that's why he created me and this chamber to help you keep things forward. It also serves a resting place for you and your little companion. Think of this as a 'save point' for your travels."

(Ai) "With all of this stuff, it makes you feel like you're in a game."

(Yusaku) "How did we move forward?"

(Axl) "I'll explain that in the meantime. I'll give you a few tips about this world in order to avoid suspicious."

(Ai) "A tip, huh? This really is feels like a game!"

Axl tells Yusaku about a few things about the world he is currently in. Next, he shows Yusaku of how to move to the next event by lifting his hand which has an orb on it when it starts to glow. Soon, there's trembling in the Chamber of History as Yusaku and Ai were startled by it until the shaking has stopped.

(Axl) "There we are at the next scene. Go outside and take a look. This will serve as an example of its power. Oh, I almost forgot! I'll signal on your Duel Disk to return to the chamber when you're done with the event or a save on your adventures."

(Yusaku) "Understood."

After nodding to Axl's word, Yusaku gets out into the streets of Domino City and the door behind him shuts itself. He tries to open it where he saw a different inside. He realized that Axl will open the chamber for him when he is ready so he decided to look around his surroundings until he saw Yugi and his friends in casual clothing coming to his way. They appear to be shopping as Jonouchi and Yugi carrying plastic shopping bags as Yugi noticed Yusaku.

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun! Nice to see you here!"

(Yusaku) "Yugi! You've already out from the hospital?"

(Jonouchi) "What are you talking about? Yugi gotten out from the hospital a few days ago."

(Yusaku) _A few days? So what Axl says is true._

(Yugi) "Yusaku-kun? What's wrong?"

(Yusaku) "It's nothing. What are you guys doing out here this late?"

(Anzu) "Yugi and Jonouchi are getting their Duel Disks for the upcoming Battle City Tournament."

(Yusaku) "Battle City?"

(Honda) "What? You didn't hear the news?"

(Yusaku) "I was kinda busy in the past few days so I didn't keep track on the latest news."

(Yugi) "Well, you see-"

Yugi is explaining to Yusaku about the tournament happening in Domino City. Battle City is a Duel Monsters tournament hosted by Seto Kaiba, the owner and CEO of the world's largest multinational gaming conglomerate, Kaiba Corporation. Yusaku remembered the facts about the organization from Axl as Yugi also explain that duelists need a Duel Disks in order to enter the tournament which is why they were out here in the first place.

(Yusaku) "I get it. I'm surprised that the event is happening here in this city."

(Jonouchi) "I know, right?! That Kaiba...! He also didn't invite me, the number 2 at the Duelist Kingdom! Well, I'll show him who's the best when I win first place!"

(Yusaku) "Seem like you guys have a history with the CEO."

(Yugi) "Yeah, we have a few clashes with him in the past."

Yugi tells Yusaku about their first encounter with Seto Kaiba when the latter stole his grandfather's card and Yugi beat him for it which started a rivalry between them. Their next encounter is during the Duelist Kingdom where he tries to get his little brother, Mokuba and his company back from Pegasu.

(Yusaku) "Sounds to me that he is a troublesome fellow."

(Honda) "You bet he is! We have a few troubles because of him!"

(Anzu) "But he is a strong duelist. Yugi have a hard time beating him each time in their duels."

(Yugi) "Hm? Yusaku-kun, you also have a Duel Disk on your arm."

(Yusaku) "This is given to me from an acquaintance that I know of. I didn't know before that it is made for this tournament."

(Yugi) "Does that mean you'll entering it as well?"

(Yusaku) "Who knows. Maybe I'll give it a try."

(Yugi) "Great! I can't wait for us to meet at the finals!"

(Jonouchi) "Geh?!"

Yugi is excited about Yusaku joining the Battle City Tournament while Jonouchi freaks out a little about realizing his chances of making the spot of the finals.

After a short conversation, the gang say their goodbyes to Yusaku

as Jonouchi went to the hospital where his sister, Shizuka Kawai, is having an operation while his three friends went in the different direction.

(Ai) "Yusaku, are you really going to enter this tournament?"

(Yusaku) "I'm not entering for real since I'm not from around here. It was an excuse to avoid suspicious from Yugi and the others."

(Ai) "But you still going to hang out during that time, right?"

(Yusaku) "Of course. This must be one of the events needed for us to pass through."

(Ai) "I see!"

(Yusaku) "Battle City, huh? I have a feeling this tournament will not be simple."

After saying that, Yusaku then noticed the signal from his Duel Disk which means that Axl is calling him as he head back to the Chamber of History.

* * *

The next day, Yusaku is crossing the streets where he saw many duelists roaming around the area. Some duelists glares at him when they saw his disk which disturbing Ai about this much hostility.

(Ai) "Ugh. Their staring are giving me the creeps."

(Yusaku) "This city has become a battlefield for the duelist so it is naturally for them to act that way."

(Ai) "Whatever. Let's keep finding our target. He is near around here."

Yusaku keep searching for Yugi for a while until he found him near a kid's playground. It appears that Yugi is looking for something before he saw Yusaku coming.

(Yugi) "Hello, Yusaku-kun! Are you ready for Battle City to start?"

(Yusaku) "Sort of. What are you doing, Yugi? Looks like you're searching for something."

(Yugi) "I'm looking for the starting point where the tournament can begin. This place is where the map has located. Looks at this."

Yugi show a clear card with a prismatic coating containing a small portion of a map to Yusaku. It appears that this is a map of Domino City.

(Yusaku) "What is this card?"

(Yugi) "I don't know. It came along with the Duel Disk and I follow the directions."

(Yusaku) "But this place doesn't seem a right setting for a duel."

(Yugi) "Kaiba-kun should broadcast the starting ceremony soon."

(Unknown Male) "My fellow duelists, welcome to the Battle City!"

Both of them were shocked to hear that voice when a blimp flies over the city. Yugi went up the roof with Yusaku following behind him as they saw a man's face on the blimp's TV screen. The man has brown hair and his outfit is consists of a long white sleeveless KaibaCorp-designed coat featuring shoulder pads and a raised studded collar, with black sleeves from his shirt coming out from under. He has extra belts in pairs strapped around his upper arms and shins.

(Yugi) "Kaiba-kun!"

(Yusaku) "So that man is Seto Kaiba."

(Kaiba) "I will now explain the contest rules. Those who came here are all chosen by Kaiba Corporation, as Level 5 or higher duelists. The Duel Disks on your arms are proof of that."

(Yusaku) "Level 5 or higher duelists?"

(Yugi) "There's actually a grading system for the duelists when we first buy these. They have this in order to distinguishes duelists of their skills for the upcoming tournament."

(Yusaku) "I see. That way, they only select the best duelists to participate."

Yusaku understood Kaiba's system as the CEO continues to explain the rules. Domino City has become a stage for the duelists and they must play with a deck of at least forty cards, with at least one rare card in it. They will play an Ante Rule where the winner will take the loser's rare card. Also, there will be only eight duelists in the finals and its location is unknown even to Kaiba. The only way to receive information of the location is the Puzzle Cards that each participant's possesses and same like the Ante Rule, the winner of a duel was entitled to take one Puzzle Card from their opponent. Only collect six of them will revealed to the location of the finals.

(Yusaku) "I see. So that card in Yugi's hand is the key to the finals."

(Kaiba) "Now, the Battle City will begin! Duelists! Scatter across the city and locate your enemies!"

Kaiba announced the the start of the tournament as the participants shouted out in excitement.

(Ai) "That Kaiba guy. He sounds very arrogant and prideful, which is going to be a pain if we went up against him."

(Yusaku) "Yeah, but he's also seem very confident of his chances."

(Ai) "Anyway, this tournament is going to be a blast!"

(Yugi) "Alright! I can't let my guard down! Hm?"

(Yusaku) "What's wrong, Yugi?"

(Yugi) "It's Jonouchi-kun! He's over there!"

Yusaku look at Yugi's direction where they find Jonouchi is walking angrily towards the man at the cafe. Both of them headed down towards the cafe where they met up with Jonouchi.

(Yugi) "Jonouchi-kun."

(Jonouchi) "Yugi! Yusaku!"

(Yusaku) "What's the matter?"

(Jonouchi) "This bastard is one of the Ghouls! And he stole my **Red-Eyes**!"

(Yusaku) "Ghouls?"

(Yugi) "A dark syndicate of rogue duelists and card thieves! They are also known as Rare Hunters and they collect rare cards from around the world through any means!"

(Yusaku) _Kinda sound like the Knights of Hanoi._

Yusaku thinks of that as he stared at the Ghoul member. The man has gray hair and snake-like eyes as he grins at Yugi. Jonouchi steps up in front of them as he wants to confront the Ghoul member himself.

(Jonouchi) "Yugi! Yusaku! Don't try and fight this bastard!"

(RH #1) "Oh? So you want to fight me once more? Even though you already _lost_ your **Red-Eyes** from your deck?"

(Jonouchi) "Grr!"

(RH #1) "But I'm afraid without rare cards, I no longer have any interest in you! Yugi Mutou! You'll be my opponent!"

(Jonouchi) "Wait! This is my problem!"

(Yugi) "No, I accept this duel."

(Jonouchi) "Yugi!"

Jonouchi and even Yusaku look at Yugi when his Millennium Puzzle starts to glow. Yusaku is the only one who have noticed this as he is shocked at this strange phenomenon.

(Yusaku) "Yugi?"

(Yugi) "Duelists put their lives into their cards! Those who try to steal them…"

The light from the puzzle glows brighter as Yugi's expression and atmosphere has changed. Yugi now has a more mature appearance and his eyes are narrower with a more intense, determined gaze. Yusaku is shocked at his transformation as Yugi speaks in a more sterner voice.

(Yami Yugi) "I won't forgive them! Garbage like you is a disgrace to the city! I'll clean you up right now!"

(Yusaku) "So this is the other Yugi…!"

(Ai) "Yusaku! The Chronicle Factor's signal is getting stronger!"

(Yusaku) "As I thought, he is our real target."

(Jonouchi) "Yugi. They'll do anything to win. They're gathered hundreds of powerful cards and bootlegged rare ones to make their decks! In his deck-"

Jonouchi stop speaking when Yugi put up his hand towards him.

(Yami Yugi) "Don't say another word about it, Jonouchi-kun!"

(Jonouchi) "But...I…"

(Yami Yugi) "No matter what cheap tricks the opponent uses, I have no right to know the enemy's strategy before the game!"

(Yusaku) "Are you sure about that?"

(Yami Yugi) "Don't worry about it, Yusaku-kun. I'm very confident on my skills as a duelist."

(Yusaku) "Understood."

(Yami Yugi) "Rare Hunter! Use your strongest tactics on me. My deck will crush you into oblivion!"

(Jonouchi) "Yugi…"

(RH #1) "Heh heh heh! I admit I like guys with high fighting spirit and confidence like you, but that's all useless in a duel! I'm going to teach you that your worthless talk of justice means absolutely nothing in front of us Ghouls! All that awaits you is the despair of losing your rare card and falling into the pit of darkness!"

(Yami Yugi) "Well now, is that so?"

Both duelists are getting ready to duel as they stand their positions and activate their Duel Disks. While they are dueling, Yusaku ask Jonouchi about his relation of that Rare Hunter.

(Yusaku) "Jonouchi, what happened back there? You said something about him stolen your **Red-Eyes**."

(Jonouchi) "Yeah, it is an embarrassment of my pride as a duelist!"

Jonouchi tells Yusaku of how he lost his rare card from that Rare Hunter. It happened when Jonouchi was separated from the gang last night to go see his sister's operation. The Rare Hunter ambushed him in the alleyway, defeat him in a duel using counterfeit cards, and took away his **Red-Eyes Black Dragon**.

(Yusaku) "Are you sure not telling Yugi about this?"

(Jonouchi) "I want to help him, but knowing Yugi, I'm sure that he will figure out that guy's strategy."

(Ai) "I don't understand why Yugi decided not taking his friend's advice."

(Yusaku) "It must be his pride as a duelist."

(Ai) "Huh? Pride?"

(Yusaku) "You won't understand about it."

After done whispering to Ai, Yusaku watches the duel as Yugi finished his turn by setting two cards and summon one monster. The non-duelist crowd were impressed by the Solid Vision as Yugi's opponent only draws more cards and set up his defense monster before ending his turn. Yugi then summon both **Baphomet** and **Phantom Beast King Gazelle** before activating his set card.

(Yami Yugi) "I activate the Spell Card, **Fusion**! I fuse **Baphomet** and **Gazelle** together to summon the Fusion monster, **Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast**!"

(Ai) "Fusion Summon? What's that?"

(Yusaku) "It is a summoning method where you can fuse two or more monsters in order to summon a powerful one from the Extra Deck. It depends on the requirement about the materials for different Fusion monsters and you usually need a ' **Fusion** ' Spell Card in order to work, but there are different ways to Fusion Summon without it."

(Ai) "Heh. Neat."

Yugi Fusion Summoned a chimera that was formed by his two monsters earlier. It has wings from **Baphomet** and has two heads which one of them have horns. The Battle City's Rule states that Fusion monsters cannot attack on the turn it was summoned so Yugi ends his turn by setting his card. His opponent then use the Spell Card, **Graceful Charity** , to draw and change his cards again. He also set more defense monsters to strengthen his wall.

(Yusaku) "It's weird. He's only keep drawing cards while increasing his defense."

(Ai) "Guess he has bad set of cards on his hand."

(Yusaku) "Or maybe he is gathering the cards in his hand for something."

(Ai) "For what?"

(Yusaku) "I don't know, but it is definitely not a simple strategy."

(Jonouchi) "Yugi! There's no need to fight him anymore! This duel is being rigged by that Ghoul from the start!"

(Yami Yugi) "That's where you're wrong, Jonouchi-kun. I will continue fighting fairly until the end. To defeat him! A true duelist, no matter what the opponent is like, must not underestimate."

(Jonouchi) "Yugi…"

(Yami Yugi) "Jonouchi-kun. For you, I will win."

Yugi reassures Jonouchi as he turns to his opponent and figured out his strategy.

(Yami Yugi) "I figured out your plan! I won't let you summon **Exodia**!"

(RH #1) "Eh?!"

(Jonouchi) "Yugi!"

(Yusaku) " **Exodia**?! That Rare Hunter has those cards?!"

(Ai) "What is that?"

(Yusaku) "It is a very rare set of five cards that formed together to create a powerful monster known as **Exodia**. Whoever assemble five cards of its parts will automatically win the duel!"

(Ai) "Eh?! Instant win?! Those cards will let you do that?!"

(Yusaku) "Yeah, but its effect will only work when you assemble them in hand or field. That Rare Hunter must have several copies to make it easier for him to win a duel."

(Ai) "Seriously?! How will our target win before that happens?"

(Yusaku) "I don't know, but Yugi must defeat him before he collects all parts of **Exodia**."

The duel continued before Yusaku's eyes as Yugi destroys another defense monster and set his card which ends his turn. The Rare Hunter about to draw his card when Yugi activate his Trap Card which made his opponent to skip his turn. Yugi activate his Spell Card which banished one of his opponent's cards in his hand. The banished card turn out to be one of the Exodia parts which hinders the opponent's strategy.

(Ai) "Wow! What luck! He managed to stop that guy's plan!"

(Yusaku) "Only temporary. This suspense of this duel is getting anxious."

Yugi's opponent managed to seal Yugi's attacks to stall time to draw the **Exodia** cards. After a few turns, Yugi trick his opponent into setting one of the **Exodia** cards into DEF Mode which Yugi activate his Trap Card to destroy the copies of the summoned monster, ending the Rare Hunter's strategy.

(Ai) "He did it! He managed to destroy **Exodia**!"

(Yusaku) "Yeah. So this is how the other Yugi duels…!"

Yusaku is amazed at Yugi's strategy as the latter finished off his opponent with his own monsters and wins the duel. Yusaku, Yugi and Jonouchi walk over to the Rare Hunter's side as Yugi picks up the deck and take the Puzzle Card and **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** due to the Ante Rule. While he's at it, he shredded the **Exodia** cards into the air.

(Yusaku) "Why are you destroying them?"

(Yami Yugi) "Those cards are fakes. It was a disgrace for him to use these in a duel so that's why I did it. I used to have the completed real set, but I lose three cards during my trip to Duelist Kingdom."

(Ai) " _Phew_! Thankfully for us, cause if he had them, I didn't think you have chance of dueling this guy."

(RH #1) "I lost… My… ultimate deck… Aaahhh!"

The Rare Hunter suddenly gets up and hold his head in panicked as he continues to scream. Yusaku, Ai, Yugi and Jonouchi are shocked of his reaction as an glowing eye symbol appears on the Rare Hunter's forehead.

(Yusaku) "What with this guy?"

(RH #1) "It's been a long time, Yugi. The great duelist who defeated Pegasus. And also your friend who duel Keith the other day."

(Yami Yugi) "This presence…! It just like the one from Keith at the warehouse!"

(Ai) "Huh?! What's going on, Yusaku?"

(Yusaku) "I don't know."

(RH #1) "Yugi, the man you just faced was the weakest of the Rare Hunters. Us Ghouls have much more strength than that!"

(Jonouchi) "H-Hey… What's this guy talking about?"

Jonouchi is frighten about the man's strange behavior as the latter explain that the one talking to them isn't here and is controlling the man from a different place. He demonstrated his ability by making the man move around like a string puppet which frightens Jonouchi even more.

(Yami Yugi) "Who are you?!"

(RH #1) "Like you, I am chosen by the Millennium Items. I'm controlling everything he does, with the power of the Millennium Rod!"

(Yami Yugi) "Millennium Rod?!"

(Yusaku) "Millennium Rod? Millennium Items?"

(Rare Hunter #1) "In any case, I was merely introducing myself. My name is Malik, the leader of the Ghouls!"

(Yusaku) "So he is the leader of the Ghouls…"

(Yami Yugi) "Malik! What are you Ghouls after?!"

(RH #1) "To gather the God Cards, three legendary rare cards that have revived in this modern world."

(Yusaku and Yugi) "" **God Cards**?""

Both Yusaku and Yugi mutters the name as Malik explain to the rest about them. The three God Cards, **Slifer the Sky Dragon** , **Obelisk the Tormentor** and the **Winged Dragon of Ra** , are one-of-a-kind all-powerful cards created by Pegasus J. Crawford, who modeled them after three Ancient Egypt divine beasts whose likenesses surround the Millennium Puzzle on the stone tablet said to hold the memories of the nameless Pharaoh. His plans was to take those cards and become Pharaoh to control the world. His Ghouls have already attained two of the cards and the remaining one is in this city.

(RH #1) "Yugi. The Game has just started. A Rare Hunter with a God Card is already lurking in your town. And if you meet him, Yugi… Even with your skills, it will be your complete defeat…"

(Yami Yugi) "We'll see about that. I'll never hand the title of Pharaoh or the power to rule the world to the likes of you! And even if the Rare Hunter holding a God Card appears before me… I won't lose!"

(RH #1) "Heh heh heh. I'm looking forward of testing that theory. Very well, Chosen One. The Millennium Battle has begun!"

(Yusaku) "Millennium Battle…"

The Rare Hunter collapsed after Malik finished what he said to Yugi. Yusaku stares at the collapse man as he saw Yugi gives back **Red-Eyes Black Dragon** card to Jonouchi. However, he didn't take it as Jonouchi explain his reasons to them.

(Jonouchi) "Right now, I can't take **Red-Eyes Black Dragon**. If I did that, I won't be closer of becoming a true duelist like you."

(Ai) "True duelist?"

(Yusaku) "He means that he feels that he is not ready to take the card back until he's proven himself."

(Ai) "But isn't he already a duelist?"

(Yusaku) "You wouldn't understand."

Jonouchi explained that he lost the drive to improve after Duelist Kingdom and learn a lesson from Yugi's duel about a duelist's pride. He decided to use this tournament as a chance to improve himself and leaving his precious card to Yugi.

(Jonouchi) "I put together a new deck for today's tournament. I still got my Puzzle Card and my **Time Magician** , the last rare card I can bet so I'm still in this tournament. I want to become someone I can respect… a true duelist. No, in this Battle City, I'll become one! Yugi, when I win this tournament, and when the time comes where I can call myself a true duelist… Will you duel me?"

(Yami Yugi) "I understand. We'll fight each other then, Jonouchi-kun!"

(Jonouchi) "Thank you, Yugi. And Yusaku, I want to duel you as well! I'm thinking about what you said to me the other day so I want to face you when I become a true duelist too!"

(Yusaku) "Y-Yeah, same here."

(Yami Yugi) "Jonouchi-kun, I'll wait for you. I'll take care of your **Red-Eyes** until then! And Yusaku, I'm looking forward dueling you some day!"

Three of them have made their promises as Jonouchi and Yugi went their separate ways while Yusaku is currently taking in the information that he heard.

(Yusaku) "Ghouls, Millennium Items and the three God Cards… This situation has already turned complicated than I expected."

(Ai) "You've got that right. There's also facts about Ancient Egypt and Pharaohs. It sound crazy no matter how many times I've heard it."

(Yusaku) "But since these events have already happened, it's safe to say that these sort of things are properly true."

(Ai) "Don't tell me that you're seriously believing this?!"

(Yusaku) "It's really doesn't matter to me whenever it is true or not. All I need to know is how to get the Chronicle Factor from our target.'

(Ai) "Works for me! I cannot comprehend these strange informations that I'm learning…"

(Yusaku) "Ai, keep on track on Yugi. We can't lose our target now."

(Ai) "Roger!"

* * *

(Malik) "You found the owner of **Obelisk**?"

(Ghoul #1) "Yes. The owner of **Obelisk** is none other than Seto Kaiba."

(Malik) "Hmph. I should have known."

(Ghoul #2) "But how did Kaiba get hold of it?"

(Malik) "I can imagine… He hosted this tournament because he got his hands on it… His purpose is to unify the gods."

(Ghoul #1) "Kaiba is still in the North Block. Shall I assemble a team to attack him?"

(Malik) "No, let Kaiba be for the time being. It is time to intercept the Pharaoh. Call Pandora the Conjurer for a duel!"

(Ghoul #2) "Yes sir!"

(Ghoul #1) "I also have another thing to report. The man from the other day is following Yugi at the moment."

(Malik) "The one with the strange cards, huh. Assemble a team to ambush him! I don't know why, but I have a feeling that he will be a nuisance to our plans."

(Ghoul #2) "Yes sir!"

* * *

At that moment, Yusaku is currently following Yugi's movements when the signal becomes weaker all of the sudden.

(Yusaku) "Ai, what's going on?"

(Ai) "I don't know! The signal is getting weaker as if he is going somewhere far."

(Anzu) "Yusaku!"

Yusaku turns and saw Anzu and Mr. Mutou coming to his way. Their expression look like they are panicking as Yusaku speaks to them.

(Yusaku) "You two! Did something happen?"

(Anzu) "Yugi…! He has disappeared!"

(Yusaku) "What?! Are you sure?"

(Mr. Mutou) "He went into a circus tent when we first find him and when we following after him, Yugi went inside some kind of box and the item just collapsed itself with him inside, vanished just like that!"

(Yusaku) "Then do you have any ideas where he could be?"

(Anzu) "No, that's why we came out and look for him! I thought that you might help us on searching him."

(Yusaku) "I got it. I will search for Yugi on my own. We will cover more ground that way."

(Anzu) "Understood!"

(Mr. Mutou) "Be careful."

Three of them went in their different directions as Yusaku use the radar to find Yugi. As he walks upon the alleyway, one hooded figure stand in his way.

(Yusaku) "Who are you?!"

(RH #2) "Are you a man called Yusaku? I heard that you have some unusual cards in your deck. May I see them in action?"

(Yusaku) "Are you a member of the Ghouls?"

(RH #2) "Guess you've already heard of us. That's right. On Master Malik's orders, I'm here to take away your deck!"

(Yusaku) "I don't have time to play with you lot! Move!"

(RH #2) "On Battle City's rule, when duelists lock their eyes to each other, they must battle! Are you perhaps a coward to face us Ghouls?"

(Yusaku) "Che! It seem that I have no other choice…!"

Sensing his opponent's intention of blocking his path, Yusaku activate his duel disk and his opponent did the same as they began the duel.

 **DUEL!**

Yusaku: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:5** ), ( **Field:0** )

Rare Hunter #2: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:5** ), ( **Field:0** )

(Yusaku) "I will go first! My turn! I summon **Balancer Lord**!"

A white and green cybernetic knight wielding a sword and shield appears on the field.

[ **Balancer Lord/LIGHT/Cyberse/LV 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1200** ]

(Yusaku) "I pay 1000 LP to activate **Balancer Lord** 's effect! In addition to my Normal Summon this turn, I can summon 1 Cyberse monster. I summon **Cyberse Wizard**!"

Yusaku: (LP: 4000 - 1000 = 3000)

Yusaku summons a humanoid magician wearing cyberpunk clothing and holds a staff as it appears next to **Balancer Lord**.

[ **Cyberse Wizard/LIGHT/Cyberse/LV 4/ATK 1800/DEF 800** ]

(Yusaku) "Then I set 1 cards. Turn end."

Yusaku: ( **LP: 3000** ), ( **Hand:2** ), ( **Field:3** )

Rare Hunter #2: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:5** ), ( **Field:0** )

(RH #2) "My turn, draw. I summon **Marauding Captain**!"

The Rare Hunter summons a humanoid warrior with blonde hair in silver armor as it raises its sword.

[ **Marauding Captain/EARTH/Warrior/LV 3/ATK 1200/DEF 400** ]

(RH #2) "When **Marauding Captain** is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I summon a second **Marauding Captain**!"

Another copy of **Marauding Captain** appears next to the first one.

(RH #2) "I activate the Spell Card, **Graceful Charity** , which let's me draw three cards, then discard two from my hand. Next, I activate the Continuous Spell, **Solidarity,** from my hand! If I have only 1 type of monster in my Graveyard, the rest from my field gain 800 ATK if they are the same type!"

(Ai) "Huh?! 800 ATK increase?!"

(Yusaku) "Addition to draw more cards, he discarded a monster with the same type to his other monsters to activate his other Spell Card."

(RH #2) "The two cards that I discarded are **Warrior Lady of the Wasteland** and **Warrior Dai Grepher** , both which are Warrior monsters. Which means that all of my Warrior monsters gain 800 ATK!"

[ **Marauding Captain** x2 **;** (1200 → 2000 ATK)]

[ **Warrior Lady of the Wasteland/EARTH/Warrior/LV 4/ATK 1100/DEF 1200** ]

[ **Warrior Dai Grepher/EARTH/Warrior/LV 4/ATK 1700/DEF 1600** ]

(Ai) "Ah! Both of them are now stronger than our monsters!?"

(Yusaku) "I activate the Trap Card, **Three Strike Barrier**! If my opponent have exactly three cards on the field, I can activate one of its three effects! I choose that my monsters won't be destroyed in battle this turn!"

(RH #2) "You may save your monsters but you still take damage. Also, I activate the second **Solidarity** to power up my monsters once more!"

[ **Marauding Captain** x2 **;** (2000 → 2800 ATK)]

(RH #2) "Battle! I attack **Balancer Lord** with my first **Marauding Captain**!"

The opponent's monster swing its sword towards **Balancer Lord** which a barrier formed around the monster, blocking the attack while Yusaku receive damage.

Yusaku: (LP: 3000 - 1100 = 1900)

(RH #2) "I attack **Balancer Lord** again with my second one!"

The copy attacks in the same motion as the first which replays the same event.

Yusaku: (LP: 1900 - 1100 = 800)

(Yusaku) "Kuh…!"

(RH #2) "Before I end my turn, I activate two Equip Spells, **Mist Body** , to both of my monsters. Now they cannot be destroyed in battle. By the way, when **Marauding Captain** is on the field, you can't attack any of my Warrior monsters except this one. However, there are two of them which means that you can't attack either of them!"

Both monsters are covered in a fog veil as they crossed their swords together.

(Yusaku) "An impenetrable defense, huh?"

(RH #2) "That's right! Let see how you can struggle against this. I end my turn!"

Yusaku: ( **LP: 800** ), ( **Hand:2** ), ( **Field:2** )

Rare Hunter #2: ( **LP: 4000** ), ( **Hand:0** ), ( **Field:6** )

(Ai) "Mmm… This defense looks tough… Any ideas how to break it?"

(Yusaku) "This thing won't stop me on my quest. My turn. Draw! When there's a Cyberse monster on the field, I Special Summon **Backup Secretary**! "

Yusaku summons a humanoid female with futuristic clothing and purple hair as it appears on the field. Its outfit consist of a purple suit, a visor and holding a tablet.

[ **Backup Secretary/LIGHT/Cyberse/LV 3/ATK 1200/DEF 800** ]

(Yusaku) "Next, I Normal Summon **Draconnet** from my hand! Its effect also lets me Special Summon a Level 2 or lower Normal monster from my hand or deck in DEF Mode. Appear from my deck, **Bitron**!"

A digitize being with a vague dragon-like appearance and circuit patterns and a white cybernetic being that's hovering in the air appears on the field.

[ **Draconnet/DARK/Cyberse/LV 4/ATK 1400/DEF 1200** ]

[ **Bitron/EARTH/Cyberse/LV 2/ATK 200/DEF 2000** ]

(Yusaku) "Everything has been set. Appear, the circuit lead to the future!"

His palm glows bright and the Arrowhead portal appears above him as he stated the summoning conditions.

(Yusaku) "Arrowhead Confirmed! The summoning conditions are two Effect monsters! I set **Draconnet** and **Backup Secretary**!"

Two of his monsters turns into hurricane-like energies as they went into two Link Markers which causes the portal to glow again.

(Yusaku) "Circuit Combine! **Link Summon**! Appear, **Link 2** **Underclock Taker**!"

A cybernetic being with a tube-like body appears on the field as it was placed on the Extra Deck.

[ **Underclock Taker/DARK/Cyberse/Link 2/ATK 1000/←↓** ]

(RH #2) "Ooh! So this is Link Summon…!"

(Yusaku) "Not done yet! Appear once more, the circuit lead to the future!"

(RH #2) "Another?!"

The Rare Hunter is shocked that Yusaku is doing another Link Summon as the Arrowhead portal appears above him again.

(Yusaku) "Arrowhead Confirmed! The summoning conditions are at least two Cyberse monsters! I set **Bitron** , **Balancer Lord** and **Cyberse Wizard** in the Link Markers!"

Three of his Cyberse monsters turns into hurricane-like energies as they went into three Link Markers which causes the portal to glow again.

(Yusaku) "Circuit Combine! **Link Summon**! Appear! **Link 3**! **Encode Talker**!"

Yusaku summons a light blue armored humanoid that look similar to **Decode Talker** except with lighter color scheme, yellow orbs and wielding a shield as it was placed on the zone where one of **Underclock Taker** 's link arrows point to.

[ **Encode Talker/LIGHT/Cyberse/Link 3/ATK 2300/** ↑↓↘]

(RH #2) "That's pretty impressive, but they won't be enough to destroy this perfect defense of mine!"

(Yusaku) "Every strategy has a flaw, and I'm going to prove it to you by winning this duel! From my hand, I activate the Continuous Spell, **Battle Buffer**! As long as **Underclock Taker** and **Encode Talker** are linked to each other, both **Marauding Captain** s' effects are sealed!"

(RH #2) "What?!"

Yusaku's card fires a beam towards two **Marauding Captains** as they turned grey due to their effects negated.

(Yusaku) " **Underclock Taker** 's effect activates! I target one of my opponent's monsters and reduced its ATK by one monster that's linked to **Underclock Taker**. **Encode Talker** is linked to it so its 2300 ATK are subtracted from one of your **Marauding Captain** 's ATK."

(RH #2) "No way!"

[ **Marauding Captain;** (2800 → 500 ATK)]

(Yusaku) "Battle! **Underclock Taker** attacks the other **Marauding Captain**!"

(RH #2) "You're attacking the one with higher ATK than yours!?"

(Yusaku) " **Encode Talker** 's effect activates! The linked monster isn't destroyed in battle nor take damage!"

Yusaku's monster charges at **Marauding Captain** with higher ATK which **Encode Talker** intercept them and using its shield to prevent the other Link monster's destruction.

(Yusaku) " **Encode** 's other effect activates! It gains ATK equal to the other **Marauding Captain** 's ATK! Also, **Battle Buffer** 's effect! I place 1 Battle Buffer Counter on this card. Cyberse Link monsters on my field gain 700 ATK per Counter!"

His Link monster glows due to gaining ATK as it turn its shield downward which a blade came out from the bottom.

[ **Encode Talker;** (2300 → 5100 → 5800 ATK)]

[ **Underclock Taker;** (1000 → 1800 ATK)]

(RH #2) "5800 ATK?!"

(Yusaku) "You believe so much on your defense that you fail to see this coming."

(RH #2) "Hee…!"

(Yusaku) "I end this! Go, **Encode Talker**! Attack the weaken **Marauding Captain**! [ **Final** **Encode**!]"

 **Encode Talker** charges at the weaken **Marauding Captain** as it slashes the monster with its blade, destroying it in the process as well as sending its controller flying backward from the shockwave.

(RH #2) "Gaaahhh!"

Rare Hunter #2: (LP: 4000 - 5300 = 0)

 **Yusaku: WIN**

(Ai) "Alright! You beat that nuisance so let's get out of here!"

(RH #3) "That was a nice play you've shown us. Heh, heh, heh…"

As their monsters vanishes after the duel, Yusaku looks at his defeated opponent before resuming his quest. However, more of the Rare Hunters block his way as they corner him in both paths of the Alleyway, leaving him no way to escape.

(Ai) "Gah! More of these creeps!"

(Yusaku) "More away! If you don't want to end up like your companion here, I suggest that you get out this instant!"

(RH #4) "I'm afraid that isn't possible. Master Malik's orders."

(RH #5) "Remember the Battle City's rules? Duelist must face each other in a battle!"

(RH #6) "You got some unusual and rare cards. They will make a good price if we sell them."

The Rare Hunters smirks and laugh at this before activating their Duel Disks. Yusaku gritted his teeth in annoyance of the interruptions as he battles more of the Ghouls.


End file.
